Norway's Subsea 7 and New York-listed contractor Schlumberger are in talks to form a new joint venture that builds on their 2015 Subsea Integration Alliance (SIA).
SIA combines the subsea production and processing systems of OneSubsea, a joint venture between Cameron and Schlumberger, with the subsea umbilical, riser and flowline systems (SURF) capability of Subsea 7.
The new alliance will help reduce the total cost of ownership and enhance customer efficiency throughout the asset lifecycle, while maximising total production, Subsea 7 said.
It is intended to "further strengthen the front end engineering, design and execution of integrated projects, and will build on the expertise from both companies creating a unique life-of-field offering that includes autonomous subsea technology, digitally enabled remote surveillance and production monitoring, and inspection, maintenance and repair services", it added.
Life-of-field merger
In addition to contributing resources related to early engagement and tendering, OneSubsea and Subsea 7 will assign their respective life-of-field businesses to the joint venture.
The new company will be owned equally.
Jean Cahuzac, Subsea 7 CEO, said: "This joint venture will build on the success of Subsea Integration Alliance to provide our clients with the best solutions and services on an integrated basis.
"We are looking forward to strengthening our collaboration with Schlumberger and extending our range of innovative solutions and technologies to drive industry progress."
In October, the two companies secured a substantial new contract for Ophir Energy's Fortuna LNG project off Equatorial Guinea.
The deal, which is worth between $150m and $300m, will be carried out in average water depths of 1,790 metres by SIA.
It will involve combining SURF and subsea production systems.
Four deepwater wells will be tied-back to a subsea manifold and connected to an FLNG vessel by steel risers.
