Subsea 7 is getting the inside track for work on two massive offshore oilfields.
The company said the Subsea Integration Alliance — an outfit combining Subsea 7 and its OneSubsea joint venture — have signed an agreement with Equinor for exclusive collaboration on the Wisting field offshore Norway and the Bay du Nord project in Canada.
The agreement means any engineering, procurement, construction and installation work will automatically be awarded to the alliance should a final investment decision be reached.
“Subsea 7 has been collaborating with Equinor for many years to optimise challenging subsea developments ranging from bundle solutions for the Snorre Expansion to the integrated Bacalhau development in Brazil,” chief executive John Evans said.
“We look forward to extending and deepening this relationship as we work together to unlock the value in Wisting and Bay du Nord.”
The two projects are estimated to contain 800m barrels of oil combined — 500m at Wisting in the Barents north of Norway and 300m at the Canadian project in the waters east of Newfoundland & Labrador.
Equinor senior vice president for project development Trond Bokn said: “Equinor is working hard to improve and mature the Wisting and Bay du Nord projects.
“Selecting the supplier at this early stage is a new way of approaching project development for us, and a vote of confidence in Subsea Integration Alliance.”
OneSubsea was launched last October, with Kristian Siem’s Subsea 7 joining Texas oilfield services company SLB and Norway’s Aker Solutions.
The outfit was created to help customers drill oil faster with lower development costs.
In the first quarter, Subsea 7 reported a $29m profit. Conventional oil and gas work represented $1.2bn of its $1.4bn in revenue thanks to strength from projects in warm weather countries.
Its renewables business provided just $179m in revenue for the quarter.
The company has a total contract backlog of $10.4bn.
