Saturday, 8 May 2010

Aker Solutions awarded Kebabangan Northern Hub development project

Aker Solutions has been selected by Kebabangan Petroleum Operating Company Sdn Bhd (KPOC) as its contractor for the detailed engineering of the Kebabangan (KBB) Northern Hub development project located in the South China Sea, 130km offshore Sabah in East Malaysia.

Under the four-year contract, Aker Solutions operations in Malaysia will provide detailed design and engineering support through to the start up phase of project. Aker Solutions estimates the contract value to be approximately NOK 170 million.

"Expanding our international operations is high on our agenda. Being selected as key contractor for detail engineering on this important project demonstrates that we have succeeded in establishing a competitive delivery model within detail engineering for the highly competitive Malaysian market and enables us to further develop our execution arm in our target markets in South East Asia and Australia", says Jarle Tautra, executive vice president in Aker Solutions.

The KBB facility comprises single integrated drilling, oil and gas production, utilities and quarters (PDUQ) topsides mounted on a fixed 8-leg jacket in 142m of water. The gas and oil will be evacuated via 135 km export lines to shore. The Shell-operated Malikai deep water field will be tied in via separate partially- stabilised liquid and dry gas lines shortly after first gas from KBB.

The topsides weight is estimated to be 17,000 MT and is designed to be installed by the floatover method. The jacket weight is estimated to be 14,000 MT and will be launch-installed.

Ravi Kashyap, President for Aker Solutions' field development operations in Malaysia says: "We thank KPOC for demonstrating their confidence in Aker Solutions. We have successfully completed the concept study and FEED for this project and look forward to further building on our relationship with KPOC in this critical phase of the development."

KPOC, comprising PETRONAS Carigali Sdn Bhd (40%), ConocoPhillips Sabah Gas Ltd (30%) and Shell Energy Asia Limited (30%), will operate the Kebabangan field. KBB will be a hub for the development of deep water and on-shelf gas and oil assets offshore Northern Sabah.

Aker Solutions has a track record that spans 20 years in Malaysia.