LNG

Australian LNG operator Woodside has awarded a European-US grouping comprising units of Europe’s Subsea 7 and Houston-based Schlumberger, a significant contract for the subsea development of the Scarborough gas field to provide feed gas for the Pluto LNG plant expansion.

The Scarborough field is located about 380-kilometres offshore northwest Australia and is one of just two such feed-gas projects under way in Australia, with the other being the Barossa field to extend the lifespan of Darwin LNG.

Subsea 7 said the project work scope covered the engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) of subsea pipelines and production systems.

The development will include 45 kilometres of rigid flowlines, six flexible flowline risers, 42 kilometres of umbilicals and eight trees, as well as associated subsea equipment, in water depths of about 950 metres.

The Subsea Integration Alliance team established during the initial front-end engineering and design phase, awarded in January 2019, will now transition into the full EPCI phase.

Project management and engineering will take place in Perth, Australia, with support from Subsea 7’s Global Project Centre’s offices in Malaysia, UK and France and various OneSubsea offices.

Offshore activities are targeted to take place from 2023 to 2025 using Subsea 7's reel-lay and flex-lay vessels.

Joint effort

“This award is the result of a strong and collaborative early engagement process with Woodside, working with a high level of transparency and cooperation during the pre-tender and FEED phases,” said Olivier Blaringhem, Chief Executive of the Subsea Integration Alliance.

“It demonstrates the potential value of Subsea Integration Alliance and its optimised and integrated offering capacity. We look forward to working with Woodside to deliver the project successfully and safely while maximising the client’s production objectives,” stated Blaringhem.

David Bertin, Vice President for Subsea 7 Global Projects Centre and Asia Pacific, said the group was proud to be awarded this contract by Woodside.

“This builds on our long-standing relationship with the client and our successful track record of projects executed offshore Australia,” explained Bertin.

“Our local office in Perth will be supported by Subsea 7’s Global Projects Centre, underlining the strength and breadth of our project management capabilities and the capacity to deliver complex projects,” added Bertin.

Subsea noted that it defined a large contract as being between US$300 million and US$500M and the value range refers to Subsea 7’s share of the contract.

The Subsea Integration Alliance is a non-incorporated strategic global alliance between Subsea 7 and OneSubsea, the subsea technologies, production and processing systems division of oil and gas services company Schlumberger.

The alliance brings together field development planning, project delivery and total lifecycle solutions under an extensive technology and services portfolio.

Turkey, one of the largest LNG importers in the European region, has awarded a European-US consortium a significant contract for the subsea development of the nation’s largest-ever natural gas discovery, the Sakarya gas field in the Black Sea.

State energy company, Türkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortaklığı (TPAO), has chosen the consortium of Houston-based Schlumberger and Europe’s Subsea 7 for the engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) at the Sakarya field.

The integrated project scope will cover subsurface solutions to onshore production, including well completions, subsea production systems (SPS), subsea umbilicals, risers, flowlines (SURF) and an early production facility.

Turkey has discovered between 400 billion cubic metres and 530 Bcm of natural gas in the Black Sea Sakarya field in assorted wells.

The project contract includes the provision and installation of infield flowlines, control umbilicals, tie-in connections, associated subsea equipment, 170 kilometres (105 miles) of gas export pipeline and an monoethylene glycol injection pipeline.

The government aims to get Black Sea gas flowing into the national grid in 2023, the centennial of the founding of modern Turkey, with sustained plateau production starting in 2027 or 2028.

Turkey plans to cover up to a quarter of its consumption from the discovery by 2027.

Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez has said the country may be able to start with an initial annual production capacity of 3.5 Bcm in 2023.

Increases

The eventual aim would be to lift the Sakarya field capacity to around 15 Bcm per annum within four years of initial production.

Turkey itself currently consumes between 45 Bcm and 50 Bcm of natural gas each year.

Turkish LNG import terminals in 2020 handled 10.72 million tonnes of LNG with its four largest suppliers being Algeria with 3.96MT, Qatar with 2.26MT, the US supplying 2.22MT and a further 1.32MT coming from Nigeria.

The scope of work on the Sakarya field for Subsea 7-Schlumberger comprises the whole EPCI of the subsea pipelines and associated equipment to connect the gas wells at a depth of around 2,000 metres to the shore and gas grid. Turkey has already initiated the production of the pipes for this process.

Subsea 7 said it its statement on the contract that it defines a major contract as being one where its share of revenue is more than $750 million.

Schlumberger will deliver the well completions scope and the design, construction and commissioning of the early production facility capable of handling up to 350 million standard cubic feet per day of gas.

The SPS and SURF scope will be delivered by OneSubsea, the subsea technologies, production, and processing systems division of Schlumberger and Subsea 7.

“Subsea 7 looks forward to building a long-term relationship with Turkish Petroleum and to making a significant contribution to the development and growth of the Turkish energy industry,” said John Evans, Subsea 7 Chief Executive.

“Subsea 7 has a long track record of providing optimised solutions for deepwater developments and we are pleased to be working on this important project,” added Evans.

Woodside Petroleum, the operator of the North West Shelf and Pluto LNG export plants in Western Australia, has awarded four contracts for front-end engineering and design activities for the proposed Scarborough natural gas project to underpin expansion at the Pluto facility on the Burrup Peninsula.

Woodside Petroleum, the Australian liquefied natural gas developer, said it was moving forward with its front-end engineering design activities for its joint venture offshore Senegal in West Africa where BP and other companies are developing floating LNG projects.

ExxonMobil, whose main Australian LNG stake is in Gorgon LNG in Western Australia, said it was planning to increase its presence in the domestic market by developing the West Barracouta natural gas field in the Bass Strait between the southern Australian states of Victoria and Tasmania.