Equinor Energy AS and partners have let contracts worth 5 billion kroner to Aibel for work at Krafla, Gina Krog, Asterix, and Gassco at Kårstø.
Krafla
Aibel will perform front-end engineering and design (FEED) for the unmanned processing platform at Krafla field on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The award is a continuation of the pre-FEED contract awarded in 2020. The study will form the basis for tying an unmanned platform to the Aker BP-operated platform on NOA field. The study is valued at 180 million kroner.
In June 2020, the licensees in Krafla, NOA, and Fulla agreed on a coordinated development of the fields, of which Equinor is operator of Krafla in the north and Aker BP is operator of NOA Fulla in the south.
The planned development concept involves an unmanned production platform (UPP) to which subsea installations on Askja, Krafla, and Sentral will be tied in. Operations will be run from Equinor’s operations center at Sandsli in Bergen.
Power demand of Krafla and NOA Fulla will be met by power from shore through a submarine power cable from Samnanger in Vestland county.
An investment decision is expected end 2022. If made, the supplier selection for the implementation contract will also be made in 2022.
Asterix
Aibel will perform a FEED study, including an option for an extended FEED study and the actual implementation of topside modifications for tying the Asterix discovery to the Aasta Hansteen platform.
The total value of the study is calculated at 75 million kroner. The implementation option is calculated to exceed 1 billion kroner, including a 430-tonne module to be assembled in the North Sea Hall at Aibel’s yard in Haugesund.
Located in 1,350 m of water in the Norwegian Sea, Asterix is a subsea development taking place around 80 km west of the Aasta Hansteen platform. The project will help extend the life of Aasta Hansteen field, which will drop below plateau production in 2026 when Asterix is to be phased in.
Plans call for the gas to be processed and then transported to the market via the Polarled pipeline to the terminal at Nyhamna. The chosen concept includes for example a subsea template with three gas producers and a pipeline of 80 km.
An investment decision is scheduled for fall 2022.
Equinor is operator. Partners are Wintershall Dea, Petoro, and Shell.
Gina Krog
Gina Krog license partners will invest in a new oil export solution on Gina Krog field. A new 23-km pipeline between Gina Krog and Sleipner A (SLA) will replace the existing Rangfrid floating storage and offloading vessel in 2024. Aibel has been awarded an implementation contract for modifications on Gina Krog and Sleipner A for tying the platforms together by the new pipeline.
Valued at 500 million kroner, the contract is the fourth awarded to Aibel for modifications in the area.
Removal of the current vessel solution will reduce CO2 emissions from the field by around 18,000 tonnes/year. The new pipeline will reduce annual operating costs while helping extend field production.
Equinor is operator. Partners are PGNiG Upstream Norway AS and KUFPEC Norway AS.
Kårstø
On behalf of operator Gassco and the Gassled partnership, Equinor awarded Aibel a FEED contract for electrification of turbines and pressure boilers at the Kårstø processing plant.
The value is estimated at 130 million kroner for the FEED study, which will form the basis for a cost evaluation before FID at end 2022.
An implementation option has also been awarded at a preliminary estimated value of three 3 billion kroner.
The Kårstø electrification project aims to reduce CO2 emissions by 500,000 tpy.
