Energy consultant Adil said yesterday it had signed a £15million deal to support a major project west of Shetland.
The Aberdeen firm has struck an agreement with Premier Oil to help the North Sea operator with the execution phase of the £536million Solan field.
Adil said its work would continue until the development came into production, which is expected to be in the final quarter of 2014.
The consultant secured the new deal after spending nearly two years working with Solan’s previous operator, Chrysaor, providing people and systems for the development phase.
Adil said it would now provide people to oversee the construction of a new offshore platform – currently being built by Burntisland Fabrications (BiFab) in Fife – and a 300,000-barrel capacity subsea storage tank, which will be built overseas.
Solan is expected to produce around 40million barrels of oil at an initial run rate of 24,000 barrels per day.
Andy Halliwell, development-projects manager at Adil, said the consultant would have 30 people working on the project; the largest team it has provided for any contract.
“This is a large, multi-faceted project,” Mr Halliwell said, adding: “Most notably, it is Adil’s first major greenfield project requiring the construction of brand new offshore facilities, including new topsides and jacket.”
He said that the project would also allow Adil to expand overseas when the site where the subsea storage tank will be built was confirmed.
Mr Halliwell added: “To have a team based overseas is a key step towards the company’s ambition to move into other parts of the world.
“Our aim is to be involved in projects located in other regions, including Australia and the Middle East.”
Adil turned over £13.8million last year, and said earlier this year it expected this to grow to more than £21million in 2012.
It also aims to expand staff numbers from 90 to more than 180 by the end of this year.