Aker BP has been awarded Kvaerner a contract for delivery of the topside and steel jacket substructure for Valhall Flank West. This is the first project in the Wellhead Platform Alliance, which was established in the spring of 2017 between Aker BP, Kvaerner, ABB and Aker Solutions. The contract for the normally unmanned platform represents a breakthrough in Kvaerner’s strategy for smaller platforms. The contract has a value of close to NOK 1 billion for Kvaerner.

In April 2017 Kvaerner signed a frame agreement with Aker BP, and later an alliance agreement was signed for construction and hook-up of fixed offshore platforms, including topsides and steel jacket substructures. Since then Kvaerner has, together with the alliance partners, worked out and presented several improvements for reduced costs and increased productivity, which will be implemented in the project execution.

The new alliance model initiated by Aker BP, enables very efficient cooperation between the participating companies. The Valhall Flank West project will be executed by the alliance, and Kvaerner’s scope includes procurement, fabrication, sea-fastening and load-out, as well as offshore hook-up and commissioning assistance. The fabrication management will be based at Kvaerner’s yard in Verdal, where prefabrication and assembly will start from May 2018.

The steel substructure and the topside shall be ready for delivery and sail-away from Kvaerner’s facilities in May 2019, and hook-up and commissioning on the field is scheduled for August 2019. An average of 450 people will work on the project at Kvaerner’s yard in Verdal. The activity will be at its highest in the autumn of 2018, when around 650 employees will be working on the project.

“This is an important milestone for the alliance and the development of Valhall Flank West. At the same time this contract is an important breakthrough in Kvaerner’s strategy to become a leading supplier of small, cost effective platforms. For the past years we have invested in developing our own products and expertise for this type of smaller projects. Several oil companies are considering developments like this over the next years, and the interest in the product that we have developed, is positive,” says Sturla Magnus, EVP in Kvaerner responsible for Structural Solutions and the yard in Verdal.

Tags: Aker BP, Kvaerner