Big Deal For Baker Hughes

Baker Hughes, a GE company, has been awarded a contract by Statoil Petroleum AS and Aker Solutions to provide turbomachinery equipment for the topside structure for the floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) to be located at the Johan Castberg field in the Barents Sea. No financial details were provided.

Under the deal, which is part of a global frame agreement with Statoil, BHGE will provide an integrated technology configuration tailored to the project’s specifics needs. This will include a BHGE’s module solution designed for FPSO, specifically developed and pre-assembled to help Statoil reduce the number of interfaces at the installation site.

BHGE’s scope of supply will include two gas turbine generators with LM2500+ G4 Dry Low Emission with dual fuel capability direct coupled with two-pole electric generators. Each gas turbine generator train will incorporate a waste heat recovery unit on its exhaust system that will allow the recovery of heat energy from the turbine exhaust to maximize efficiency. The scope of supply will also include balance of plant (BOP) auxiliaries related to the gas turbines and to the waste recovery units.

The scope of supply will be tested and preassembled into three industrial modules at BHGE’s Turbomachinery & Process Solutions centers of excellence at Massa and Avenza, Italy. The modules will be then shipped by Statoil to Singapore for final integration on the FPSO topside. The shipment of the modules is targeted for the fourth quarter of 2019.

“We are excited to have the opportunity to contribute to the development of Johan Castberg, one the industry’s most impactful projects globally,” said Paolo Ruggeri, Turbomachinery & Process Solutions director, Europe, BHGE. “The modularization of the units that we can execute in our Avenza module construction yard represents an innovative solution that we were able to offer to Statoil during the initial phase of the design. It will allow a significant reduction in the number of interfaces and activities to be performed by the customer at site and at the FPSO construction yard.”

The proven volumes in Johan Castberg are estimated at between 400 and 60 million barrels of oil equivalent. This makes the Johan Castberg project the biggest offshore oil and gas development to be given the go-ahead in 2017. First oil is scheduled for 2022.