Transport and installation of the jacket and topsides for Statoil's Kvitebjørn platform in the North Sea are to be performed by Saipem UK.
Running until the spring of 2003, the contract for this work is conditional on acceptable gas deliveries being secured for the field from 2004.
Norway's Gas Supply Committee (FU), which advises the government on offshore fields to deliver gas under Norwegian sales contracts, is due to report this week.
Statoil has been permitted by the authorities to award the Saipem contract early in order to secure a crane ship large enough to lift the structures, reports project manager Bjarne Bakken.
The jacket and topsides for the integrated production, drilling and quarters platform will each weigh 12 000 tonnes.
Containing gas and condensate (light oil), Kvitebjørn lies about 20 kilometres south-east of Statoil's Gullfaks field. The other partners are Norsk Hydro and Elf.