By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Jan. 12 -- Statoil ASA has signed a letter of intent with Aker Kvaerner ASA for basic and detailed engineering plus procurement and construction management assistance services for an upgrade project at the group's 200,000 b/cd Mongstad refinery, north of Bergen, Norway.
The engineering contract is valued at €8.7 million, an amount set to increase with the addition of the procurement and construction supervision work.
The contract will be finalized this month, and the project will start Feb. 1.
Statoil has yet to make the final decision whether to execute the full project this year, pending approval from the Norwegian authorities. If approval is granted, the engineering portion of the project is slated for completion by April 2007, and the refinery upgrade is scheduled for completion in late 2008.
The project also includes a new combined heat and power plant and a new gas pipeline from the Kollsnes to Mongstad. The Energy Integration project will substantially improve the energy efficiency of the Mongstad complex, Statoil said.