Vaar Energi has awarded Baker Hughes and Norwegian player Ocean Installer a contract for the engineering, procurement, construction and installation of subsea systems and associated services for the Balder X project on the Norwegian continental shelf.
Under the deal, Baker Hughes and Ocean Installer will engineer, procure, construct and install 16 new subsea production systems (SPS), umbilicals, risers and flowlines to the Jotun A floating production storage and offloading unit.
The duo will also carry out decommissioning work in the field.
The ongoing Balder X project is focused on re-developing the Balder and Ringhorne fields in the North Sea.
Redevelopment activities include refurbishing and relocating the Jotun A FPSO to extend the production life to 2045 and extending the life of the Balder FPSO to 2030. It also includes drilling 15 new production wells in the Balder field area and 11 new production wells in the Ringhorne field area.
“Our subsea connect approach is transforming the way we do business and bringing new efficiencies to subsea projects,” chief executive of oilfield equipment at Baker Hughes, Neil Saunders said.
“Working closely with Var Energi and Ocean Installer, we will deploy the key components of subsea connect, including early engagement, advanced field-proven technology, flexible partnerships and digital solutions to improve project economics,” he said.
“We are pleased to award this important contract to Baler Hughes and Ocean Installer,” Vaar Energi chief executive Kristin Kragseth said.
“It will provide new activity to the world-class oil service industry we have in the Stavanger region. Both companies have a strong local presence and large portions of the construction and engineering work will come from local suppliers, supporting employment in the region,” Kragseth added.
Earlier this week, ExxonMobil said it signed an agreement with Vaar Energi in which it will sell its non-operated upstream assets in Norway in a $4.5 billion deal.
Eni Norway formed Vaar Energi last year through a merger with local player Point Resources, which in 2017 acquired ExxonMobil’s operated assets in Norway for about $940 million.
ExxonMobil’s Norway portfolio includes ownership stakes in more than 20 producing fields with production of almost 150,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The fields are mostly operated by Equinor, ExxonMobil said, and include Grane, Snorre, Ormen Lange, Statfjord, and Fram.