Statoil, on behalf of the partners in the Njord licence, today awards an EPC contract to Kværner for the upgrade of the Njord A platform in the Norwegian Sea. The EPC (engineering, procurement, construction) contract is call-off under a framework agreement signed on 1 April 2016. The contract is worth some NOK 5 billion. Earlier call-offs under the contract were made in connection with pre-engineering and preparatory work, including platform assistance at the quay, towing into the dry dock and inspection. Njord A was towed ashore and put at the Stord yard, and the storage vessel Njord Bravo was towed ashore and put quayside in Kristiansund. The platform will stay in the dry dock until the autumn of 2017 for extension and reinforcement of the hull. It will subsequently lie alongside the quay for further reinforcement and upgrading work in the period up to the delivery in 2020.
The Njord field has been on stream since 1997. The topside structure was fabricated and assembled at Stord, whereas Verdal delivered the hull. In 2014 the hull was temporarily reinforced, allowing production to continue for a period, but it was still not sufficiently robust for drilling from the platform to be resumed. In the summer of 2016 the Njord and Hyme fields were temporarily shut down. (Source: Statoil)