Safe Service wins flotel contract

Norsk Hydro today awarded Safe Service AS a contract to lease a flotel during the hook-up phase of the Grane oil field development in the North Sea from June to October 2003.

The contract has an estimated value of about NOK 200 million (USD 22.5 million) and entails leasing a unit with a capacity to accomodate 510 people. Safe Service is a subsidiary of ProSafe AS in Stavanger.

The Grane oil field, which lies about 185 kilometers west of Stavanger, will be developed with an integrated accomodation, process and drilling platform mounted on a steel jacket. Total investments are estimated to be about NOK 15 billion (USD 1.67 billion).

Kvaerner Oil and Gas (KOGAS) won the contract to build the Grane field’s production module, worth some NOK 3.5 billion (USD 382 million), in May. Contracts to build the drilling module and steel jacket will be awarded shortly.

The Grane field, which holds an estimated 700 million barrels of recoverable oil, is expected to reach a maximum output rate of 214,000 barrels per day in 2005. The oil will be transported via pipeline to the Sture oil terminal north-west of Bergen.

Hydro’s equity share in Grane is 24.4 percent. Other field partners include Statoil with 6.4 percent, the state’s direct financial interest (SDFI) at 43.6 percent, and ExxonMobil with 25.6 percent.