Norwegian offshore oil and gas engineering and construction firm Aibel will provide a field engineering, concept optimization, and definition study for Equinor's unmanned process platform at the Krafla field in the North Sea off Norway, under a contract announced Tuesday.
Krafla is one of several fields located between Oseberg and Alvheim in the North Sea, that Equinor and Aker BP are looking to develop together
The area is located between Oseberg and Alvheim in the North Sea. The partners in the licenses are Equinor ASA, Aker BP AS and LOTOS Exploration and Production Norge AS.
Equinor and Aker BP in June commercial terms to jointly develop several fields on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The coordinated development will include Krafla, Fulla, and North of Alvheim (NOAKA) offshore licenses.
Aibel's task is to deliver the study to further mature the concept with a tie-in to the Aker BP-operated host platform.
The engineering firm said it would focus on making the design reliable and robust, with minimal maintenance needs, simplification of systems, and functions on the platform, as well as automation and digitization.
"Here, Aibel will make use of experience from the previous Krafla and Peon concept studies and the expertise the company has gained from unmanned platform concepts in general, both in oil and gas and within offshore wind," Aibel said.
“We are excited to become part of the new pioneering Askja/Krafla development”, says Nils Arne Hatleskog, Executive Vice President for Field Development and Offshore Wind in Aibel.
"We see the award as a recognition of the Unmanned Facility capabilities developed within Aibel over the years, firstly within Offshore Wind Substations, and now brought to a new level for Unmanned Process Platforms, in an inspiring working relationship with Equinor.”
The study is carried out in the Concept & Studies group in Asker and is already underway. The first phase will last until December 2020, Aibel said.
Aker BP said in June that the parties had started preparations for submitting Plans for Development and Operation (PDO) in 2022.
Worth noting, this is Aibel second deal with Equinor in the last two weeks. Earlier in September, the company won a front-end engineering and design contract (FEED) for modification of the Hammerfest LNG plant in connection with the Snøhvit Future project.