World's Energy

05-18-2009 - Upstream OnLine - Italian services giant Saipem and Norway's Aker Solutions have bagged work on the Kashagan development in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea. In a release, Saipem said the contract is part of the development's experimental programme which will see crude oil and associated gas produced via an artificial offshore facilities system, called Block D and Block A. The job was awarded to Saipem in partnership with Norway's Aker Solutions. Saipem's portion of the contract is worth about $1 billion. The company said the Saipem-Aker Solutions partnership was chosen by Agip KCO to carry out the hook-up and commissioning of the offshore facilities, as well as the inshore completion and pre-fabrication work, which will be executed in the Kuryk yard in Kazakhstan. The marine activities will be carried out using five barges converted into temporary living quarters and offices, as well as temporary barges, which Saipem refurbished and prepared according to the preliminary contract signed with Agip KCO in 2007. Saipem said the work will be completed by 2012. The company added that the very shallow water at the project site, coupled with the severe weather and the stringent environmental restrictions the project must meet alongside the lack of infrastructure for the offshore industry make the project particularly complex and challenging. In a separate release, Aker Solutions said its portion of the contract is worth about $1.6 billion.