AMEC, the international engineering and project management company, has been awarded a two-year integrated services contract renewal by BP to provide operations, maintenance and project support to the Forties Pipeline System (FPS) in the North Sea.

The contract is valued at between £10 million and £15 million per year, depending on activity levels and is scheduled to run through to December 2014.

Under the contract, AMEC will take on increased responsibility to run, maintain and improve the year-round, 24-hour operation of the Unity offshore platform and four onshore pumping stations which form a major part of the FPS. AMEC and BP personnel will work closely together on the project. The current workforce will be retained, with additional recruitment occurring as and when the work scope demands.

Mike Horgan, managing director of AMEC’s Asset Management business said: “We have been supporting the Forties Pipeline System for the past 16 years and this latest contract is testament to our continued delivery of excellence for BP. We are pleased to be continuing our long term relationship with BP and supporting them to meet the needs of the Central North Sea’s oil and gas development.”

AMEC has an exemplary safety record on the project, with no lost time incidents (LTIs) over the last 15 years.

The FPS has a carrying capacity in excess of 750,000 barrels per day and carries around 40 per cent of the UK’s oil production.