Aker Wins CNOOC Subsea Order
Norway's Aker Solutions has won a subsea order from the state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) worth more than kroner 1.7bn ($206mn).
Aker will provide the subsea production system and umbilicals for the Lingshui 17-2 gas field, in the South China Sea off Hainan province. It is CNOOC's first subsea deepwater project, and is in water depths of up to 1,500 meters. The subsea production system will consist of 11 horizontal subsea trees, four manifolds, topside and subsea control system and a vertical tie-in connection system. The work scope also includes more than 70km of static and dynamic umbilicals, linking the subsea development to a new, semisubmersible platform.
"We are pleased to extend our partnership with CNOOC in China to the Lingshui gas field and leverage our global deepwater capabilities," said Aker Solutions CEO Luis Araujo.
Under the Aker Lingshui 17-2 contract, the subsea manifold will be manufactured and tested locally by China Offshore Oil Engineering Company. Services for installation and commissioning will also be executed in China. The global project will involve Aker Solutions' facilities in Malaysia, Norway and the UK. Delivery for the subsea production system and umbilicals will be from 2H 2019 into 2020, and the order will be booked in 4Q2018.
Two months ago Aker Solutions secured CNOOC's power umbilical system order for the Liuhua oilfields in China. CNOOC is also a partner in the Petrobras-operated Libra oil field development offshore Brazil where Aker is providing a subsea production system.
Equinor (formerly Statoil), the majority state-owned Norwegian producer, this month signed a deal to cooperate on exploration and climate change with its Chinese counterpart CNPC. Equinor has been present in China since 1982 and through a partnership with CNOOC produced oil from the Lufeng field in the South China Sea until 2009; the two entities have continued to cooperate since then.
China and Norway agreed to resume full diplomatic relations in 2016, following a spat after the Nobel peace prize was awarded to a Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo in 2010. Three weeks before his death on July 13 2017, he was finally freed from jail on medical parole because of his terminal cancer.