A gas turbine maintenance contract worth some NOK 180 million annually has been awarded by Statoil and Norsk Hydro to a US-Italian company.
Covering units both offshore and on land, the deal with General Electric Nuovo Pignone (GE/NP) runs for four years with options for a further two.
About NOK 120 million of the annual spend will be devoted to Statoil-operated fields. Maintenance will be carried out by GE Energy Services at Ågotnes outside Bergen.
This cooperation with Hydro is expected to yield a 10 per cent saving on present arrangements, says Heikki Oltedal, Statoil's contract manager.
"We also expect to save by collaborating on spare parts procurement for the 87 gas turbines on our Norwegian fields and at the Kårstø gas treatment plant north of Stavanger."
Statoil and Hydro agreed a formal partnership last December on effective use of turbine spares, which could cut Statoil's bills by millions of kroner per year.
The offshore turbines are LM 2500 units used to generate electricity and to drive gas compressors and water injection pumps.
A total of 56 units of this kind have been installed on Statoil fields, and the group ranks as the world's largest civilian operator of LM 2500s. Only the US Navy has more.