Page 12 - Euroil Week 50 2019

EurOil
NEWS IN BRIEF
EurOil
Equinor signs safety and automation contractsd
A new compensation format will help improve efficiency as Equinor awards new framework agreements for safety and automation systems with five suppliers.
The framework agreements cover operation of all the company’s installations on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) and onshore plants in Norway. They may also be used by the company’s international activities and for new development projects.
Total value of the five-year fixed period of agreement is estimated at just above NOK5bn. Three five-year options are additional, depending on the lifetime of each installation. The agreements cover more than 500 jobs.
“We are pleased to sign new agreements with all our suppliers of safety and control systems. The agreements include a new compensation format that rewards safe
and effective deliveries, aiming for closer collaboration and smarter maintenance
and modifications. If we jointly succeed
in reducing our total costs, it will benefit everyone involved in the effort,” says Peggy Krantz-Underland, chief procurement officer (CPO).
The safety and automation systems on the installations are the brain of the plants. The agreements cover daily operation and ensure continuous maintenance, modifications and upgrading. Cyber security is also becoming an increasingly important part of the work scope.
“Safety and automation systems are central for us to be able to work safely on
the NCS. They will help us meet our safety requirements and transform the NCS for continued high value creation and low emissions during the next decades. To achieve this, we need to strengthen our competitiveness and collaborate efficiently with our suppliers,” says Frode Abotnes, vice president for the technical multifield centre of operations technology in Development and Production Norway (DPN).
“We will spend the first two years of these agreements on establishing a standard for how to solve the tasks. The deliveries that are most effective and help reduce our costs will be rewarded. We want this to be a win- win situation for both us and the suppliers,” underlines Abotnes.
Equinor, December 16 2019
Turkish private companies to invest €300mn in expanding natural gas distribution network
Turkish private companies plan to invest Turkish lira (TRY) 2bn (around €300mn) in expanding the country’s natural gas distribution network, according to Yasar Aslan, head of the Natural Gas Distributors’ Union.
Natural gas is distributed through a 140,000-kilometre long network in Turkey, Aslan said, adding that the Turkish gas grid expands by 8% each year.
Between 2017 and 2019, 220 residential areas with a combined population of 6.5mn were connected to the distribution system, according to Arslan. Turkey’s population stands at towards 82mn.
From 2020 to 2022, 100 more residential areas would become part of the distribution network, Aslan said.
Turkey’s natural gas consumption declined by 6% to 50bn cubic metres in 2018.
Energy market regulator EPDK reported last month that natural gas consumption plunged 20.4% on an annual basis to 3.24bn cubic metres in September due to unusually warm weather.
bne IntelliNews, December 17 2019
Germany said to brace for
sanctions against Russian
Nord Stream 2 pipeline
German government is preparing for the US sanctions against Nord Stream 2 pipeline that is being built by Russia, German daily Bild reported citing an internal government memo.
Reportedly, the sanctions could come in effect as soon as this week, but the authorities hope that the pipeline will be finalised in the 30-day sanction-free window that could still be allowed.
As reported by bne IntelliNews, sanctions against companies constructing the pipeline are inscribed in the US 2020 defence budget . The budget has been passed by the US Senate, according to Reuters, and only required ratification by the US President Donald Trump.
The companies in the consortium
financing the pipeline include German Uniper and Wintershall, Austrian OMV, French Engie and British-Dutch Royal Dutch Shell.
According to Bild, German authorities do not expect the sanctions to apply to Gazprom’s subsidiary Nord Stream 2 AG and Western investors. However, the Swiss-Dutch Allseas contractor that is laying the pipeline in the Baltic Sea could be targeted.
Previously Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov brushed off the danger of the new sanctions after his working visit to the United States on December 9, claiming they would not stop the project from being completed.
In September the EU Court of Justice imposed a 50% cap on Gazprom’s use of the 36 bcm per year OPAL pipeline in Germany, limiting future gas flows via Nord Stream 2 pipeline. However, German regulators are reportedly preparing to appeal the decision.
bne IntelliNews, December 18 2019
Odfjell Drilling to provide
platform drilling services at
Greater Ekofisk Area
Offshore driller Odfjell Drilling has been awarded the contract for platform drilling and maintenance and minor modifications for ConocoPhillips offshore Norway.
Odfjell Drilling said on December 17
that the contract covered drilling operations, work-over campaigns, plug and abandonment activities, and all preventative and corrective maintenance of ConocoPhillips’ drilling facilities on three offshore platforms in the Greater Ekofisk Area.
It added that the contract ran for five years, with two three-year extension options available. It will come into forced in the third quarter of 2020.
The Greater Ekofisk Area is located in
the southern part of the North Sea, 300 km southwest of Stavanger. It consists of the Ekofisk, Eldfisk and Embla fields, operated by ConocoPhillips but also owned by Total, Var Energi, Equinor, and Petoro.
December 18 2019
Aker BP extends Deepsea Nordkapp rig contract
Norway’s Aker BP announced on December 18 it had exercised a first one-year extension
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Week 50 19•December•2019