Heerema Delivers Jacket to Buzzard Oil Field Ahead of Schedule

Buzzard Jacket
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Heerema Vlissingen, one of the fabrication facilities of Heerema Fabrication Group (HFG), has successfully completed the EPC contract for the construction of a jacket and piles for the fourth platform on Nexen's Buzzard oil field in the UK North Sea.

The 3,500t jacket which measures 42 x 42 x 124m together with eight 96-inch piles with a total weight of 2,200t were loaded on a barge from Heerema Vlissingen's construction quay for transportation to Nexen's Buzzard oil field some 30 miles north-east of Peterhead in Scotland. In the meantime HFG's fabrication facility Heerema Hartlepool is fabricating the 6,000t process deck and 500t bridge, due for load out in March 2010.

Wim Matthijssen, Managing Director of Heerema Vlissingen said, "We are very pleased in achieving our commitment for an early jacket completion well ahead of the scheduled date, allowing an earlier installation than originally planned. The early jacket installation reduces the installation and hook-up work when the topside and bridge, built to suit the as-installed jacket, are installed in the 2010 installation period. This successful delivery is a result of driving EPC contracts from a fabrication point of view. A special note of appreciation goes to our experienced and dedicated work force, who were able to get the job done under challenging conditions, as during the project execution phase various projects were simultaneously fabricated."

"Due to zero changes after design completion, timely procurement as well as our excellent relationship with the steel mill in Germany and the rolling mill in the Netherlands we were able to secure the tight delivery schedule of the jacket," continued Remco van Gilst, Commercial Manager of Heerema Vlissingen.