Uchenna Izundu
International Editor
LONDON, June 23 -- Dong Energy let a turnkey contract to Bladt Industries AS to construct and install an unmanned satellite production platform for its Nini East oil field in the North Sea. The site lies 7 km northeast of the existing Nini platform. Bladt said its contract contains an option for future work in the area.
Bladt Industries will work with Saipem UK to design, produce, and install both the jackets and topsides and develop a pipeline to connect Dong's Nini and Cecilie fields to the Siri platform where oil will be treated and shipped. Total platform weight will reach about 3,500 tons. Fabricating it should take 15 months, after which it will be towed to its final position, installed, and commissioned.
Total investment, including a pipeline between Nini and Nini East, is 2.1 billion kroner.
Production is scheduled to start by yearend 2009. Nini East holds an estimated 17 million bbl of oil, and bringing it on stream extends to 2020 the life of production from the Siri license area, in which the field lies. The Dong Energy-operated Siri area comprises Siri, Nini, and Cecilie fields. Siri production previously had been expected to end in 2007.
Design has begun, and the engineering companies are specifying and purchasing steel and other essential components. This contract builds on Bladt's work on the Nini and Cecilie platforms in 2003.
Dong Energy also signed a $60 million contract with Acergy to lay 32-km of 10 in. Siri-Nini water injection pipeline. Offshore installation is scheduled for summer 2009.
Dong Energy owns 40% of the Nini license. Other partners are RWE Dea and Noreco, each owning 30%.
Contact Uchenna Izundu at [email protected].
