International oil service business Aker Solutions said yesterday it had won its largest subsea deal in the UK.
The company said the £289million contract was for work on one of the North Sea’s biggest oil projects currently under development.
Aker declined to reveal who it had signed the agreement with, but it is believed to be with EnQuest for the operator’s Kraken heavy oil field.
The Norwegian services business said the contract would require input from its Aberdeen base as well as sites at Fornebu, Tranby and Egersund in Norway.
In the Granite City, around 70 people will work on control systems and wellheads for the field, while in Norway Aker will provide 25 subsea trees and six template manifolds.
Aker said the 70 staff in its Aberdeen subsea team would come from the current workforce or existing recruitment plans.
Matt Corbin, managing director of Aker Solutions’ subsea business in the UK, said: “This is a fantastic win for our business in the UK. As leading provider of subsea equipment worldwide, we are delighted to be able to provide a system of this scale for our local market.
“Our team have been preparing for this for some time and we are now eager to get started and deliver a great result for our client.”
Aker employs about 2,800 people in and around Aberdeen but wants its north-east workforce to grow to 3,200 by 2015, making it one of the area’s biggest employers.
Operator EnQuest is known to be putting key contracts in place ahead of the anticipated project sanction for Kraken, but refused to comment on this deal.
The operator has previously said it would spend up to £200million on the development this year if it is approved.
Kraken is estimated to hold proved and probable reserves of 167million barrels of oil and at peak could produce up to 80,000 barrels per day.
EnQuest – which describes the project as one of the “cornerstones” of its portfolio – holds a 60% stake in the field, while partners Cairn Energy and First Oil hold 25% and 15% respectively.
EnQuest plans to drill 25 horizontal subsea wells within the Kraken development area and tie them back to a floating production vessel.
Kraken lies nearly 80 miles east of Shetland.
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