Sembcorp Bags Even Bigger Culzean Field Contract

An illustration of the Culzean field topsides. Image: Maersk Oil

Another huge contract handed out today by Maersk Oil one day after the company and its partners won UK approval for the multi-billion development of the giant Culzean gas field in the North Sea.

Earlier today we reported that Subsea 7 won a $150 million subsea, umbilical, riser and flowline (SURF) contract for the field from Maersk Oil. Now it seems Singapore’s Sembcorp Marine has secured a an even bigger contract worth $1 billion to engineer and construct the three topsides to be installed at the field.

Maersk Oil says the Culzean field discovered in the UK sector of the North Sea is the largest found in a decade, containing an estimated 250-300 million barrels of oil equivalent. Production is expected to start in 2019 and continue for at least 13 years, reaching 60,000-90,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2020/21, or enough for around 5% of the UK’s total gas consumption.

Semcorp Marine says the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract includes the building of the Central Processing Facility plus 2 connecting bridges, Wellhead Platform and Utilities & Living Quarters Platform Topsides for the Culzean Field Development.

The facility will be installed at a water depth of some 90 meters in the Central North Sea, about 145 miles East of Aberdeen.

The Sembcorp Marine Admiralty Yard in Singapore will be the core fabrication yard for the project, while the Sembmarine SLP yard in Lowestoft, UK will undertake the work for a power generation module, two bridges and a flare.

“We are pleased to secure this mega contract despite stiff competition from world class yards,” said Mr. Ho Nee Sin, Sembcorp Marine’s Executive Vice-President and Head of Offshore Platforms. “This is another prestigious North Sea project undertaken by the company where we will work closely with our UK subsidiary Sembmarine SLP as a team.”

Maersk Oil and its co-venturers, JX Nippon and BP (Britoil) are investing around £3bn (US $4.5 billion) in the development, with more than 50% committed to investments in the UK. Over the projected life of the field, it’s anticipated that £2.1bn (US $3.3 billion) in operating expenditure will be spent in the UK domestic market.

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