In mid-January Aibel reached the important milestone of mechanical completion on the Johan Sverdrup drilling platform. The project is currently in the final commissioning stage.

This milestone means that Aibel has completed a large part of the work on the platform and has submitted more than 76,000 so-called checklists to Statoil. In order to reach this stage, the entire project has worked determinedly towards the date of mechanical completion, which was a condition of the contract signed in February 2015.

“They’ve done a great job in Haugesund in recent months. At the same time, it’s a milestone we couldn’t have reached without a dedicated effort from all 4,500 employees, who for three years have been focused on delivering a good product. I’m really proud of that,” says Aibel’s project director for the Johan Sverdrup drilling platform, Stig Jessen.

Not done yet

Although Statoil now is taking over more and more of the platform and starting testing and completion of the on-board installation, Aibel is far from finished with its work. In the end of January two huge 182 ton platform cranes were hoisted into place, and are now to be linked up. There are also some minor tasks in painting, insulation and installation of equipment that could not be done until the platform cranes were in place.

“There will still be tasks for all disciplines, but with less scope. Going forward there will be focus on commissioning and testing, where we’ll assist Statoil with implementing any changes and adjustments to the installation,” explains Aibel’s construction manager, Bjørn Pedersen.

According to plan, the finished drilling platform for the Johan Sverdrup field will leave Aibel’s yard in Haugesund in the turn of the month May/June.

Aibel has also been awarded the contract for the hook-up of the drilling platform at the Sverdrup field. Here, close collaboration and preparatory activities are ongoing up to completion. Subsequently, an intensive offshore phase will start for Aibel’s team, which will comprise up to 600 members in rotation up to the summer of 2019.

About Aibel

Aibel is a leading service company within the oil and gas industry and is established in renewable energy.

The company`s around 4,000 employees in Norway and abroad are engaged onshore and offshore. With seven locations in Norway, the company is located near the customers. In addition to operations in Norway, Aibel is also located in Thailand, Singapore and Denmark.

About Statoil

Statoil ASA (OSE: STL, NYSE: STO) is an international energy company with operations in more than 30 countries, present in several of the most important oil and gas provinces in the world. Building on more than 45 years of experience from oil and gas production on the Norwegian continental shelf, we are committed to accommodating the world's energy needs in a responsible manner, applying technology and creating innovative business solutions. Statoil is among the world's largest net sellers of crude oil and condensate, the second-largest supplier of natural gas to the European market, and we also have substantial processing and refining operations. Statoil’s equity oil and gas production is around 2 million barrels oil equivalent per day. Statoil has contracted a fleet of around 90 ship for transportation of oil and LNG.
Statoil is headquartered in Norway with 21,000 employees worldwide, and is listed on the New York and Oslo stock exchanges.