Baku Shipyard has been awarded a contract by BP Exploration (Shah Deniz) to design and build a subsea construction vessel (SCV).
Under the $378m contract, Baku Shipyard will construct the SCV for deployment to support Stage 2 development of the Shah Deniz field.
The Shah Deniz field is located approximately 70kms offshore in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea.
State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) President Rovnag Abdullayev said that BP Exploration has selected Baku Shipyard for the construction of SCV which will support the Shah Deniz gas field Stage 2 development.
"We believe that Baku Shipyard, under the management of leading global offshore and marine group Keppel O&M, is well placed to support Azerbaijan’s growth in the oil and gas sector, and we look forward to building up our track record with more significant contract wins in the years ahead," Abdullayev added.
Marine Technology Development, the ship design and development arm of Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M) will deisgn the SCV, which is scheduled to be completed in April 2017.
Over 11 years between 2017 and 2027, the Shah Deniz Stage 2 project needs a subsea installation vessel to install the subsea structures.
BP Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey regional president Gordon Birrell said the new vessel, to be built by Baku Shipyard, will offer essential support for the construction of the Stage 2 subsea structures which will form the biggest subsea production system in the Caspian.
"Clearly, the contract underpins our plans to deploy for the first time new advanced subsea production technology in the Caspian as part of the Shah Deniz Stage 2 development," Birrell added.