A contract with a total value of NOK 500 million for modification and maintenance (M&M) work at the Hammerfest LNG plant in northern Norway has been awarded by operator Statoil to Vetco Aibel.
Placed on behalf of the licensees in the Snøhvit field, this assignment runs for five years from 1 January with three renewal options of two years each.
“Vetco Aibel submitted the best bid overall,” explains maintenance manager Rune Skeie in the Snøhvit operations organisation.
“It also has very long experience of similar contracts both offshore and on land.”
In choosing a contractor, Statoil has given weight to a company which is ready to establish a presence in the port of Hammerfest.
Vetco Aibel is due to conclude agreements with prefabrication workshops there, and will cooperate with local employment and educational bodies to secure the necessary skilled workers.
Snøhvit is the first development in the Norwegian Barents Sea and Europe's first gas liquefaction plant. The unprocessed wellstream will be piped from subsea field installations to Hammerfest LNG on Melkøya.
The latter facility is due to process this production and liquefy the gas for export from 2007.