The last of the subsea equipment for phase II of Statoil's Gullfaks satellites project is currently being installed in the North Sea.
This work has been completed without lost-time injuries and within the established schedule and budget.
A total of 22,000 tonnes of new equipment – including templates, flowline bundles, spool pieces and protective frames – have been installed on the seabed without the need for diver assistance.
Up to six ships have been in operation at a time, with roughly 400 vessel days worked since the end of March, reports Christian Holst.
Responsible for subsea production systems in the development project, he is very pleased that timetables and budgets have been met.
And he is particularly satisfied that the work has been done without a single lost-time injury.
According to project director Harald Vandbakk, the phase II project is now 62 per cent complete. The total bill looks like being NOK 6.8 billion – roughly 300 million below the original estimate.
These costs include development work, drilling and the new gas export line from Gullfaks A and C to the Statpipe trunkline.
"We still face a number of challenges, but the level of activity in the project is on the way down," says Mr Vandbakk. "That means we're well placed in relation to the planned start of gas deliveries on 1 October 2001."
Roughly 50 billion cubic metres of gas are due to be recovered from the Gullfaks South and Rimfaks satellites in 2001-15 for treatment on the A and C platforms.
This output will then be piped to Statoil's Kårstø gas treatment plant and on to customers in continental Europe.