BP, Aker Maritime sign agreement for Valhall field platform

Oct. 13, 2000
BP and Aker Maritime have signed a letter of intent for Aker Maritime to design, construct and deliver a water injection platform for BP's Valhall field in the North Sea. Aker Maritime will build the jacket substructure and the entire topsides with water injection equipment and drilling module.


Great Britain's BP and Norway's Aker Maritime announced Friday that they've signed a 2.8 billion kroner letter of intent for Aker Maritime to design and build a water injection platform for the Valhall field in the southern half of the Norwegian North Sea.

Aker Maritime will build the jacket substructure and the entire topsides with water injection equipment and drilling module. Work will be carried out through Aker Maritime's Norway-based Aker Oil & Gas business units. The topside will be designed by Aker Offshore Partner, while the jacket substructure will be designed by Aker Engineering.

The Aker Verdal yard will construct the jacket, which will be 99 m high and weigh 4,000 tonnes. The yard Aker Stord will be in charge of constructing the 8,500 tonnes topsides and also responsible for hook-up and the commissioning of the entire platform.

Engineering will start immediately, while fabrication work at Aker Stord will start in April 2001 and at Aker Verdal in August 2001. The steel jacket is scheduled for delivery in July 2002.

The platform deck will leave Aker Stord in August 2002. The platform will start drilling on Oct. 1, 2002 and will start injecting water into the reservoir to increase pressure and oil production in the Valhall field in April 2003.