Aker BP picks Subsea 7, Aker Solutions for new subsea tieback

OE Staff Dec 11, 2017

Aker BP has awarded contracts to Subsea 7 and Aker Solutions for work on its Ærfugl gas field subsea tieback in the Norwegian Sea.

The Ærfugl gas field development, previously known as Snadd, about 210km west of Sandnessjøen in the Norwegian Sea, is a subsea tieback into the Skarv floating production and offloading vessel.

The first phase of Ærfugl includes three production wells and is scheduled to start in Q4 2020.

Aker Solutions was awarded a contract from Aker BP to deliver the subsea production system for the first phase of the Ærfugl development. The subsea system will include wellheads, vertical subsea trees, a tie-in module and an umbilical riser base. The contract includes an option for Ærfugl Phase 2.

The work will begin immediately and will involve Aker Solutions facilities in Norway, Malaysia and the UK.

Meanwhile, Subsea 7 has inked an engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contract. Subsea 7 will provide electrically heat traced flowline (EHTF) technology for the 21km-long subsea tieback. The contract also include an option for the Ærfugl Phase 2.

Project management and engineering on the Ærfugl will start immediately at Subsea 7's offices in Stavanger, Norway. Fabrication of the EHTF system will take place at Subsea 7's spoolbase at Vigra, Norway and offshore operations will take place in 2019 and 2020.

Phil Simons, Vice President North Sea and Canada in Subsea 7 said, "Electrically heat traced flowline has been developed by Subsea 7 in collaboration with the manufacturer to deliver leading flowline insulation performance and enable cost-effective long-distance tie-backs."

Aker BP chose the name Ærfugl for the 60km-long Snadd gas field after a naming contest organized in collaboration with a local newspaper.

The plan for development and operation for the field is due to be delivered to the authorities in Norway this month (December).