Operator Statoil is making preparations for the awarding of contracts in spring 2002 in connection with the Snøhvit project in the Barents Sea. These contracts are worth billions of kroner and include assignments both onshore and offshore.
The contracts for the land assignments on Melkøya off Hammerfest in Finnmark county will be first. Karl Jægtnes, project director for the land assignments, reports that the contract for the levelling of the industrial site and the construction of a two-kilometre subsea road tunnel from Hammerfest to Melkøya will be awarded by March.
The project is preparing to tender out engineering works, procurement and construction of a barge and four product tanks on Melkøya – two for liquefied natural gas (LNG), one for liquefied petroleum gases (LPG) and one for condensate (light oil).
The barge will be essential for the LNG processing facility. In 2003 the construction of this processing facility will be put out to tender.
With regard to the offshore assignments, the contract for the engineering, procurement and fabrication of the subsea production system will be placed in the middle of 2002. This includes a 160-kilometre control cable between land and the field.
In 2002, a contract will be awarded for the hiring of a rig for drilling and completion of the offshore work between 2004 and 2005. A contract for the engineering of pipelines from the field to land will also be awarded. Leif Arne Høyland, director for the offshore assignments, reports that all the contracts will be awarded by 2004.
All the contracts are subject to the Storting’s (parliament) approval of the Snøhvit development. Estimates show that the project will cost around NOK 46 billion kroner in money of the day. This includes investments associated with the ships that will carry LNG from Melkøya to the markets in southern Europe and North America.