Lucrative contracts to develop Maersk’s giant $4.5billion Culzean gas field were revealed today with Singapore-based shipyard Sembcorp the latest to announce a $1billion agreement to build the topsides for the North Sea mega-development.
Sembcorp Marine has secured the contract to build the Central Processing Facility plus two connecting bridges, wellhead platform, utilities and living quarters topsides.
The announcement came on the same day Subsea 7 announced it had won $150million subsea, umbilical, riser and flowline (SURF) contract to work on one of the largest gas discoveries offshore UK.
Sembcorp will provide engineering, procurement, construction and onshore pre-commissioning services for the new development, while detailed engineering work will be performed by a subcontracting partner.
The new facility will be installed at a water depth of 90 meters in UK sector of the Central North Sea around 145-miles east of Aberdeen.
Maersk chief executive Jakob Thomasen described the high pressure, high temperature (HP/HT) gas condensate Culzean project as one of the most complex to be undertaken in the North Sea.
Once operational, it is expected to be capable of providing around 5% of the UK’s total gas consumption by 2020/21.
The topsides will be built at the Sembcorp Marine Admiralty Yard in Singapore with another of its yards in Lowestoft, delivering a power generation module, two bridges and a flare.
Sembcorp Marine’s executive vice-president and head of offshore platforms Ho Nee Sin, said: “We are pleased to secure this mega-contract despite stiff competition from world class yards. This is another prestigious North Sea project undertaken by the company where we will work closely with our UK subsidiary Sembmarine SLP as a team.”