Reborn oil and gas engineering and construction firm Kvaerner has announced plans to invest £26million in its Norwegian Stord yard as it looks to stay ahead in an increasingly busy market in the region.
The firm said the cash will pay for increased lifting and trailing capacity at Stord, including installing a rebuilt Goliath gantry crane ex UK.
This will increase handling capacity from 350 tonnes to 800 tonnes and enable Kvaerner to carry out two topside projects in parallel, compared to one at present, according to Lars Eide, a VP at Kvaerner.
Work will start in summer and its first jobs will include heavy lifts of Lundin’s 21,000-tonne Edvard Grieg topsides at the start of 2014, for which Kvaerner secured a letter of intent for engineering, procurement and construction estimated to be worth £860million last month.
The cash will also be spent on multi-wheel trailers for transport of heavier sections, civil works for the crane rail tracks and extension of the pier, office and wardrobe upgrading, as well as dismantling and disposal of the existing crane.
According to Kvaerner, which was demerged from Aker Solutions last year, “the market shows a large number of new projects on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, both onshore and offshore, in the period 2012-2020. However, the company noted that this market is increasingly competitive with major international competitors trying to capture a position in the North Sea.
Eide said: “We have won some major contracts and are preparing for future growth in our home market in the years to come. To further increase our competitiveness it is essential with state of the art facilities and equipment.”
The Goliath crane, originally built in England in 1958 where it was used for the construction of the Hinkley Point nuclear power station, is being upgraded and recertified so it can be used in the assembly phase of the Eldfisk 2/7S project.
The Edvard Grieg platform will be Lundin Petroleum’s biggest ever, and its first on the NCS.
Kvearner announced “better than expected” first quarter results, but said this did “not change its previous statements concerning the high financial uncertainty for this year”.
“In our current project portfolio, only a few projects will run through 2012 with a limited contribution to the results and we might not reach the market’s expectations this year”, said Jan Arve Haugan, president and chief executive.
He added: “The market opportunities are very promising and over the last months we have secured several important contracts. Faced with fierce global competition, we are sharpening our competitive edge. Regardless, 2012 is a year of transition.”