Marulk: 4bn spending spree under way

The bulk of the equipment will be produced by FMC at Kongsberg, Norway, but some will be manufactured at FMC´s facilities in Dunfermline, Scotland. First deliveries are due in 2Q 2011.

Although Eni Norge is the operator of the Marulk licence, PL 122, FMC´s deal was signed as part of a frame agreement FMC has with the largest PL 122 licence partner, Statoil.

-As we have started awarding contracts in an early phase, it was urgent to sort out the FMC contract, Eni´s director of communication, Andreas Wullf told Oilinfo.

He emphasized that some of the contracts for the development - like the FMC signing - will be within existing frame agreements between Statoil and various contractors. He especially mentioned drilling as one of those.   

The field is situated in 365 meters of water in block 6607/8, near Statoil´s Norne field. In the first phase it will produce via two subsea wells, tied back to the Norne FPSO. As the licence partners aim to start producing the first batch of the field´s 73 million barrels of oil equivalents in 2Q 2012, the licence has decided to secure contracts in parallell with the authorities´ PDO (plan for development and operation) processing. Thus, contracts for subsea installation and tie-in work, installation of flowlines, pipeline engineering and manufacturing, flexible risers and topside modification on the Norne vessel, are to be signed this spring. 

Shareholders in the licence are: Eni Norge (operator) 20%, Statoil 50% and DONG E&P 30%.