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Caithness News Bulletins December 2004

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Subsea 7    
BP Award for Subsea 7
55 New Jobs And Additional Work For Caithness Contractors

Subsea 7 has announced a contract award valued in the region of US $29M by BP Exploration Operating Company Ltd for work in the Farragon field which is located in the North Sea UK Continental Shelf. An important aspect of this award is the unique bundle pipeline solution proposed by Subsea 7.

The project will consist of a subsea tie-back to the Andrew Platform and includes production, gas lift and methanol pipelines utilising a pipeline bundle. Subsea 7 is responsible for the design, procurement and fabrication of the Farragon pipeline bundle and the Farragon bundle manifold/towhead. The bundle pipeline system was the preferred choice for this project since a large number of pipelines can be incorporated in a common carrier pipe which is manufactured onshore. The bundle is then towed into position which minimises installation time offshore. Over 50 bundles have been installed using this method in the North Sea to date.

The engineering and procurement phase will commence immediately with the installation being completed by fourth quarter 2005 and will utilise a number of Subsea 7 vessels throughout the offshore phase. Subsea 7’s Wick facility in Caithness, Scotland will commence fabrication in late spring 2005 and anticipates employing approximately 55 new people to work on the project. Work will also be provided for local subcontractors and specialist welding companies who will all require additional personnel as a result of this award to Subsea 7.  All in all over 100 personnel will be involved in fabricating the bundle which is scheduled to be launched in late summer 2005.

Subsea 7’s UK Vice President, Robin Davies said, “We have provided BP with our bundle technology in the past on Cyrus and Bruce developments, and are pleased to again be in a position to offer the optimum solution for the Farragon project proving that a bundle can be an economic solution against conventional pipelay methods. As part of the Federal contract that we hold with BP, this award adds to our ever expanding scope of services.”

Subsea 7 is one of the world’s leading subsea engineering contractors. The company has offshore operations supported out of the UK, Norway, Singapore, Brazil, United States, West Africa and the Caspian and employs 3500 world-wide. Subsea 7 has a fleet of remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), four pipeline construction yards and 14 modern, high specification dynamically positioned ships capable of deepwater reeled and flexible pipelay, deepwater subsea construction and saturation diving.
Website: www.subsea7.com

BP is a global energy provider, a world class brand and a group focused on sustainable success. BP is one of the largest integrated oil companies in the world, with an estimated global market share of around 3% of oil & gas production, 4% of refining capacity and over 10% retail sales of refined oil products in the major global markets in which they operate. http://www.bp.com/home.do