Johan Castberg floating production vessel (illustration: Statoil)

Statoil will sign a letter of intent with Sembcorp Marine Rigs & Floaters Pte. Ltd in Singapore for the construction of the hull and integrated living quarters for the floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel that will be located on the Johan Castberg field in the Barents Sea.

The contract will be signed at the final investment decision scheduled before Christmas.

Covering engineering, procurement and construction the contract has a value of NOK 4 billion.

The contract, which was won through international competitive bidding, marks an important milestone for the progress of the Castberg project. There were no Norwegian bids for the contract.

“We will be working closely with Sembcorp Marine to ensure safe and efficient delivery based on our requirements for HSE, quality, time and cost.  The remaining procurement work will be progressed in parallel with this,” says Statoil’s chief procurement officer, Pål Eitrheim.

The construction of the hull is the most time-critical delivery for the completion of the Johan Castberg project for the scheduled start-up in 2022. The contract will have a separate cancellation clause linked to the approval of the plan for development and operation (PDO).

“Johan Castberg is the next major field development on the Norwegian continental shelf and important to future infrastructure in the Barents Sea. Analyses from Agenda Kaupang show that the project will generate some 47,000 man-years of employment in Norway in the development phase from 2018-2022 given a competitive Norwegian supply industry,” says Torger Rød, Statoil’s senior vice president for project development.

Tags: Statoil