Kvaerner, KBR Win Topside Contract for Johan Sverdrup Platform

Norwegian oil major Statoil announced Monday that it has signed a deal with Kvaerner and KBR for the construction of the topside for a utility and living quarters platform for the Johan Sverdrup field in the Norwegian North Sea.

The contract, which has a value of $870 million, provides for the engineering, procurement and construction of the topside.

"The market has shown a strong interest in this contract, and Kvaerner and KBR have won the contract in tough international competition," Margareth Øvrum, executive vice president for Technology, Projects and Drilling in Statoil, said in a company statement.

Fabrication of the utility module will be done by subcontractors in Poland under management of Kvaerner and completed at Stord Norway.

KBR will carry out engineering and procurement of equipment for the utility module. The accommodation module will be constructed at Apply Leirvik's yard in Stord Norway and in Emtunga Sweden. The topside modules will be assembled at Kvaerner Stord. 

The topside will have a total weight of around 19,000 tons, the utility module accounting for 9,700 tons and the accommodation module 9,300 tons.

The contract also includes an option for commissioning assistance and offshore hook-up for the platform

"So far the Norwegian supplier industry has won the main Johan Sverdrup contracts. It is good to see that Statoil and the suppliers jointly are about to break the cost curve to ensure competitive force in a tough time for the whole industry," Øvrum added.

The utility and living quarter platform will be completed in the first quarter in 2019 for installation at the Johan Sverdrup field by use of the world's largest heavy-lift vessel Pioneering Spirit.