Hydro has awarded Norwegian marine contractor Aker Kværner the contract to hook-up and commission the Grane platform when it is installed on the offshore field in spring 2003. The deal is valued at some NOK 300 million (USD 36 million).
The contract entails hooking up and commissioning the Grane platform, which consists of three large topsides modules that will be placed on top of a steel jacket on the field.
Grane is currently the last of the large oil finds planned for development in the North Sea. It is located some 170 kilometers west of the Island of Karmøy, off the western coastline of Norway. The Grane development project, with an integrated accomodation, process and drilling platform on a steel jacket, will have a combined total investment of some NOK 15 billion (USD 1.8 billion).
Grane, which has an estimated 700 million barrels of recoverable oil, is expected to reach a maximum output rate of 214,000 barrels per day in 2005. Gas injection will be used to produce the field's heavy-grade oil.
License shareholders in the Grane field include operator Hydro (38 percent), Petoro (30 percent), ExxonMobil (25.6 percent), and Conoco (6.4 percent).