Statoil has awarded Aibel a contract to build the topsides for the Gudrun platform.

Aibel won the contract amid strong international competition. It embraces engineering, procurement, and construction of the platform deck and processing facility and mating with the steel jacket. The contract is worth about NOK 2.7 billion.

'This award followed strong international competitive bidding,' says Terje Masdal, project director in Statoil.

'Technical and commercial criteria underpin the awarding and Aibel delivered the best bid.'

The topsides will be built with a process facility for partial treatment of oil and gas. Gudrun will be supplied with electricity through a cable from the Sleipner field.

The contract to construct the steel jacket was awarded earlier to Aker Solutions, and Saipem won the contract for transport and installation of the jacket and topsides.

One of Statoil's largest developments on the Norwegian continental shelf, the Gudrun field holds about 127 million barrels of oil equivalent. Two-thirds of this is oil. The reservoir has high pressure and temperature and will require the technology developed by Statoil and applied in the Kvitebjørn and Kristin developments.

Oil and gas will be transported from the Gudrun field to the Sleipner A platform. The gas will be sent on to the gas markets from Sleipner A.

Gudrun's platform and transport solution creates a good basis for developing more oil and gas fields in the area.

Tags: Aibel, Statoil