Canadian oil company Husky Energy has awarded Kvaerner the contract to design and carry out the marine operations and installation of the concrete pad on the White Rose field in the Atlantic Ocean on the Canadian shelf.

The concrete pad fixed to the seabed is the main component of the West White Rose development project, which is a satellite of the existing White Rose field.

Today, the field consists of a floating production vessel (FPSO) with associated facilities. Working with Suncor Energy and Nalcor, Husky Energy will expand the field with a concrete-footed wellhead pad.

When the tow arrives at the Grand Banks location in the Northwest Atlantic, Kværner will be responsible for setting the concrete landing gear on the seabed, Kværner explains.

– Kvaerner was also one of the main contractors for the delivery of the SeaRose floating production vessel to Husky’s White Rose field. We are proud that Husky has once again chosen Kværner for a crucial project, Kværner CEO Jan Arve Haugan said in a statement and continued:

– Demanding marine operations are one of Kvaerner’s core areas of expertise, and we have already completed such projects around the world. We will continue to strengthen and further develop our offering in this area.

Contract Hunt

Kvaerner does not wish to comment publicly on the value of the contract. Since the contract was not announced via a stock exchange announcement, it is not a contract in the order of several billion, but for an amount of more than one hundred million crowns.

For Kvaerner, the contract is another light in the oil brake tunnel. Although the company has, among other things, won a number of major contracts on the development of Johan Sverdrup for Statoil, management has been open that it needs new orders to replenish in the future.

During the presentation of second quarter results this summer, CEO Jan Arve Haugan said that clarifications are expected on several major tenders during the fall of this year and beyond in 2018. In addition to trying to capture contracts for upcoming developments in the field such as Johan Castberg, Kværner is also working with winning contracts in other segments such as decommissioning, maritime operations such as this contract with Husky, conversions and new concepts such as unmanned wellhead platforms.

Heavy concrete experience

The towing and installation of the platform is scheduled for spring 2012.

Although Kværner built a similar concrete structure on the Hebron field for ExxonMobil in Canada, it was not Kværner who won the contract to build the actual concrete undercarriage for West White Rose. A group made up of SNC-Lavalin, Dragados and Pennecon did it.

When Kvaerner now has to tow and help with installation, it does so with hired tugs, as the company does not own such vessels.

– We have repeatedly shown that we have the competence for such demanding assignments, as we have been responsible for the unloading and installation of all the largest offshore platforms in the world, says communications manager Torbjørn Andersen in Kværner at E24.

As examples, Andersen points to the fact that Kværner has already won contracts for the towing operations of the Hebron and Hibernia rigs in Canada, a number of rigs in Russia, the Adriatic Sea and Australia, as well than all the large concrete platforms built on the Norwegian continental shelf.