Engineering news
Babcock has clinched a £30 million contract to construct dozens of subsea structures, securing 100 jobs at its Rosyth yard in Scotland.
The work forms part of the Quad 204 offshore redevelopment project, some 130km west of Shetland. It consists of a new Floating Production System Offshore (FPSO) to replace the existing Schiehallion FPSO; an extension of the existing subsea system with 15 new or replacement flow lines and 21 new or replacement risers; and 14 new wells in addition to the 52 existing wells. This major project will access the remaining hydrocarbon reserves in the Schiehallion and Loyal fields, extending production through to 2035.
In total, Babcock is to manufacture more than 70 subsea carbon steel structures for BP. These include 44 process fluid handling structures (including manifolds, flowline and riser terminations, and subsea isolation valve structures), and 30 control distribution structures (such as assemblies and umbilical terminations), amounting to a total of some 2,300 tonnes of fabrication. The eight different manifolds range in size from 56 tonnes to 131 tonnes, the largest measuring some 10.8 by 10.8 by 9.2 metres.
Three subsea isolation valve structures and 14 control distribution assemblies (measuring 12.5 x 10 x 3.8 metres), weighing 58 tonnes and 65 tonnes each respectively, are also among the items to be produced, along with flowline and riser end termination assemblies and umbilical end terminations, weighing 10-12 tonnes each, and two 20 tonne dynamic umbilical termination assemblies.
All work will be undertaken at Babcock's Rosyth facility, where the structures will be fabricated, then equipped with pipework, valves and controls, and fully tested before shipment. The design phase (being delivered by JP Kenny) is currently on-going, with phased delivery of design drawings, from which Babcock engineers will produce the fabrication drawings, to suit the structure fabrication programme. Fabrication of the first structure will commence in March 2013, with the final structure to be completed two years later in 2015.
Mike Pettigrew, Babcock’s managing director future business, said: “This is a technically complex project that will secure over 100 positions. It also involves the wider supply chain in Scotland with a number of subcontracts to be awarded, as well as providing training and development opportunities in specialist skills and offshore expertise at Rosyth.”