A flying start

It is safe to say that several Norwegian companies in Brazil had a flying start of the new year. Rolls-Royce, DeepOcean and TTS Energy have signed important contracts.

“Simply fantastic”, says president and CEO, Johannes D. Neteland of TTS Group, after signing the company’s biggest contract ever.

Milestone
While Subsea7 announced in December it has been awarded a 200 million US dollar contract from Petrobras, 3 other Norwegian companies have landed important contracts this January.

Subsea7 is to supply umbilicals, risers and flowlines to Petrobras installations in the Campos basin, and the contract includes the management, engineering and installation of two rigid oil lines at water depths of 70 meters, umbilicals and subsea related equipments.

Earlier last year the Norwegian seabed-to-surface engineering contractor was awarded the biggest Petrobras contract ever in Subsea7′s history, a contract worth 1 billion US dollars, considered a milestone to the company.

“Our specialty”
Another Norwegian company enjoying a profitable relationship with Petrobras is the subsea service provider DeepOcean.

On January 16th, the company, which is headquartered in Haugesund with regional facilities in Macae, announced it was awarded a 60 million US dollar offshore contract for Petrobras, the company’s second contract with the Brazilian company, that announced on January 19th that it’s annual production of petroleum in 2011 set a new record, up 1,6 percent compared to 2010.

The 2 year contract signed by DeepOcean includes management, engineering, maintenance and repair of flexible pipelines and electro-hydraulic umbilicals recovered from Petrobras’ subsea installations in Brazilian waters.

“We have the unique deepwater experience and expertise needed for Brazilian subsea operations. 90 per cent of Petrobras’ reserves are nestled in deep waters which is our specialty In 2007, DeepOcean was awarded its first long-term subsea services contract with Petrobras. With the award of this second contract in Brazil, we are well-positioned to further develop our strong position in this region,” says  president of Deep Ocean AS, Mr. Mads Bardsen in a press release.

DeepOcean AS is a part of DeepOcean Group Holding AS, and the work will be carried out by DeepOcean’s Brazilian organization. According to the release, the company will provide its own vessel, which will undergo a project upgrade for the contract. Additionally, DeepOcean will provide one ROV-system, the repair spreads system and onshore local engineering expertise.

Preparations for conversion of vessel and start-up of the contract have already started. Offshore operations are due to commence in the second half of 2012.

A breakthrough
To TTS Energy AS, the contract signed on January 12th, for delivery of to wellhead platform drilling units to OSX, subsidiary of OGX, is considered a breakthrough.

“Simply fantastic”, says president and CEO, Johannes D. Neteland to Norwegian media. TTS Group is now looking into establishing permanently with more employees in Brazil, and will also be hiring more engineers in Norway. In August last year, the company signed a contract with Lupatech, another Petrobras sub-contractor.

“We have been trying to position ourselves in Brazil, and the last six months we’ve signed two important contracts with very important clients. A lot will be invested here the years to come, and this is a market where everyone now wants to be present, including us. We are also looking for partners, in order to establish production in Brazil in the near future”, says Mr. Neteland.

The contract is the biggest ever signed by TTS Energy, based in Kristiansand, Norway. The two units are to be delivered in 2013, and the scope of work will be performed jointly by a consortium consisting of TTS Energy AS, Siemens AS, AS Nymo and MI-Swaco, according to information given in a press release.

The contract has a total value of 255 million US dollars. The total value of the TTS drilling packages for the 2 units is approx half of the total value.

On January 19th, Rolls-Royce announced it has been awarded two contracts to design and equip seven vessels for Brazilian ship owner Navegação São Miguel Ltd. The contracts, for four oil spill recovery vessels and three bunker tankers, are worth 23 million GB pounds  to Rolls-Royce.

“Rolls-Royce continues to win contracts in the competitive Brazilian market.  These vessels combine a proven Rolls-Royce design with a range of mission critical onboard technology, which has been specifically designed for the demanding deepwater oil and gas market. Our innovative technology will help to ensure that offshore companies can deliver their challenging operations safely”, says Anders Almestad, Rolls-Royce, President Offshore in a press release.

By Runa Hestmann Tierno, NBCC journalist