Eni did not want Oslo-based Aker and partners Aibel of Norway and South Korea’s Samsung to bid together, as they were too strong a constellation. “We want as much competition as possible,” an Eni spokesperson said.

The operator earlier this year cancelled a tender to build the FPSO for the Norwegian Barents Sea field, hoping to push down prices as industry investments drop and yards face more open slots in their order books.

Eni sent out the new tender invitations to a total of six companies last week, including Aker and its two partners.

“We were told that we would have to either bid individually or set up a weaker consortium,” an Aker spokesperson said.

Aker Solutions and Aibel are both adamant they will not split apart: “This consortium is the best delivery model for us considering the complexity and resource requirements for the chosen Goliat concept,” Aibel said in a statement.

The plan was for Samsung to build the hull in South Korea, while Aker Solutions and Aibel would share the engineering and topsides work. The group would have been a clear front-runner for the job, according to industry sources.

In the cancelled tender round, Aker and Samsung were competing with each other for the contract, the latter in cooperation with Norwegian player Sevan Marine.

Instead of handing out a full construction contract, Eni in February signed up Sevan’s cylindrical FPSO design and postponed the EPC tender to push down prices.

The floating production unit makes up a large part of the total project cost of about Nkr28 billion ($4.4 billion) for Goliat. The contract would have brought welcome work to Aker and Aibel, who are both feeling the impact of the financial crisis.

“We hope they will reconsider their decision to withdraw,” the Eni spokesperson said.

Published: 29 June 2009 09:10 GMT  | Last updated: 29 June 2009 15:41 GMT