Aker Oilfield Services Ltd has signed a letter of intent with Expro International Group Plc ("Expro") to jointly market its state of the art fleet of well intervention vessels together with Expro's propriety AX-S riserless well intervention technology.
The two companies intend to develop a global alliance that will enable customers to benefit from the combined capabilities of Aker Oilfield Services and Expro's AX-S solution in a seamless, integrated and fully aligned manner. Aker Oilfield Services already has established partnerships with Aker Kvaerner Well Service, Aker Kvaerner Subsea and DOF Subsea, and the alliance with Expro ensures that the company has access to additional technology and services required to solve the customer's deepwater subsea challenges.
The terms of the agreement, which have yet to be finalised, aim to combine Aker Oilfield Services' fleet of subsea intervention vessels and its extensive knowledge of subsea operations with Expro's AX-S well intervention technology.
Per-Ola Baalerud, CEO of Aker Oilfield Services:
"Aker Oilfield Services has developed its well intervention service offering in close dialogue with potential customers, partners and third party suppliers since the company was established in 2006. The letter of intent with Expro comes as a result of a thorough evaluation of the available and planned technologies for deepwater subsea wireline intervention - supported by valuable operational experience gained by our partners over the last few years. Expro's AX-S technology complements our existing technology portfolio which has been focused on the heavier segment of the well intervention business - offering fully integrated wireline- and coiled tubing services together with our partner Aker Kvaerner."
"Expro is recognised for innovation and quality in the important market segment for subsea technology. The AX-S rigless intervention system, which is currently under development, is recognised as having the potential to greatly assist our customers as they strive to reduce deepwater project costs and recover additional reserves from their assets. Today's announcement marks a further step towards commercialisation of AX-S and sends a clear message to our customers that Expro and Aker Oilfield Services are jointly focused on delivering step-change performance and complete solutions to their subsea challenges."
Aker Oilfield Services was established in 2006 to meet the rapidly growing demand for services in the subsea development and production markets. Aker Oilfield Services is building up a fleet of subsea intervention vessels to meet strong market demand, with up to six state-of-the-art vessels to be delivered from 2009. The company is based in Oslo and owned by Aker ASA, DOF Subsea and Aker Kvaerner ASA.
For further information please contact:
Per-Ola Baalerud, CEO Aker Oilfield Services: +47 959 09 999
Geir Arne Drangeid, Aker ASA: +47 913 10 458