Statoil has awarded a contract to Kværner Verdal to supply steel jacket for the Johan Sverdrup drilling platform.

The contract is an execution of the letter of intent signed by Statoil and Kværner for delivery of two jackets for Johan Sverdrup.

"We are well pleased with getting Kværner on board on yet another complex steel jacket delivery for Johan Sverdrup.

An important part of the original letter of intent between Statoil and Kværner for delivery of steel jackets implied that the partners were to cooperate on realising further improvements through standardisation and simplification.

This contract proves that the cooperation has been successful, and together we have improved competitiveness and maximised value creation from Johan Sverdrup," says Kjetel Digre, senior vice president for the Johan Sverdrup development project.

Weighing 22,500 tonnes, the drilling platform jacket will be the second largest of the jackets to be constructed during the first phase of the Johan Sverdrup project. This jacket will be delivered and installed on the Johan Sverdrup field in the spring of 2018.

"The Johan Sverdrup project activity will rise considerably in the time ahead as we take new steps in the development. We are cooperating closely with the suppliers in the engineering of the platforms for the project. So far, we have awarded several main contracts and equipment packages at a value of more than NOK 43 billion," Digre says.

"More contracts will be awarded this autumn. We have already started on the first jacket for the riser platform at Kværner Verdal. So far, we are on track on the Johan Sverdrup development," says Digre.

The investment costs in the first phase of the Johan Sverdrup development are estimated at around NOK 117 billion (2015 value), with expected recoverable resources in the range of 1.4 – 2.4 billion barrels of oil equivalent.

The first phase of the Johan Sverdrup field development will consist of four installations, including a utility and living quarters platform, a processing platform, a drilling platform and a riser platform, as well as three subsea water injection templates. The platforms will be interlinked by gangways.

The ambition is a recovery rate of 70% for Johan Sverdrup.