Contracts awarded bring realisation Danish South Arne closer

July 2, 1997 Oil production from the South Arne field off the Danish coast has moved a step closer with the award for the construction of the major facilities, according to South Arne operator Amerada Hess. Hess said it has now awarded the contract to build the major facilities for South Arne to Brown and Root. The contract value is approximately $ 270 million and covers the concrete 550,000 barrel capacity storage base, and the topsides which will be capable of processing 50,000 bpd of oil and 2 million cubic meters of gas per day. The contract also includes building a fully equipped accommodation module for the workers.

Separately, Amerada Hess announced that together with its partners it has agreed to sell gas produced from South Arne to Dong. This would involve the sale of an average production of 600-700 mm cm of gas per year.
South Arne will increase total Danish oil and gas production. As a consequence, the Danish national oil and gas company has decided to expand the current gas pipeline system. A new pipeline will be built from South Arne to the gas processing centre in Nybro in Denmark with the capacity to transport 13 mm cm of gas per day.

The award of the construction contract represents the second major commitment to the South Arne project. The first was the contracting of the Noble Rig Kolskaya which is currently being reconverted into a drilling rig in Rotterdam.

The partners in the South Arne field are Amarada Hess, Dopas, Denerco Oil and Danoil.