Aker Kvaerner joint venture wins main contract for White Rose

08-04-02 Aker Kvaerner, part of the international oil services, engineering and construction, and shipbuilding Group, Kvaerner, announced that Husky Energy has awarded the joint venture comprising Aker Kvaerner (49 %) and its partner Peter Kiewit & Sons (51 %), an EPC contract for the complete topside facilities for the White Rose FPSO, offshore Newfoundland, Canada. The contract has a value of approximately $ 400 mm.
The White Rose field will be developed with a production vessel, and the contract is regarded as a major milestone in Aker Kvaerner's strategy, for which the Canadian market is a key geographical area. All engineering, procurement and construction activities will be undertaken from the Joint Venture's offices under the name of Aker Maritime Kiewit Contractors (AMKC), in Newfoundland.

AMKC is now in the process of expanding its existing facilities in St. John's, Newfoundland. In addition to personnel recruited locally in Newfoundland and elsewhere in Canada, key project staff from Aker Kvaerner's offices in both Norway and Scotland have been mobilised to St. John's to complement the team. The project will start immediately, and the vessel is scheduled to start production in late 2005. Both Aker Kvaerner and Peter Kiewit have a strong profile in the Canadian offshore business after successfully participating in the Hibernia development.
Aker Kvaerner regards Canada as an interesting market with long-term prospects. Offshore Canada also imposes much of the same climatic and environmental conditions that are experienced by Aker Kvaerner on projects offshore Northern Europe and elsewhere.

The White Rose oilfield is located 350 km east of Newfoundland. Recoverable reserves for the South Avalon pool of the oilfield are estimated at 200-250 mm barrels. The field is being developed with a production ship, a so-called FPSO (Floating Production Storage and Offloading unit).

Kvaerner is a world-class oil and gas services, engineering and construction, and shipbuilding Group, with the capability and resources to undertake the world's most challenging projects. Today's Kvaerner is an industrial technology provider. It meets the needs of its customers by adding value to their business -- through the provision of innovative, cost-effective solutions -- for challenges in the hydrocarbons, process, and maritime industries.
The Group's activities are organised in four core business areas: Oil & Gas, E&C (Engineering & Construction), Pulp & Paper, and Shipbuilding. Following the merger between Aker Maritime and Kvaerner's Oil & Gas business, the Kvaerner Group expects to have revenues in 2002 approaching $ 6 bn, with some 40,000 permanent staff located in more than 30 countries throughout Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas.