Aker Solutions strengthens subsea collaboration with Equinor

Aker Solutions has signed a strategic, global collaboration agreement with Equinor to ensure mutual and continuous improvement on current and future subsea projects within the domains of safety, quality, technology, execution and cost.

“Aker Solutions and Equinor’s ongoing collaboration has consistently generated mutually beneficial technology developments, working process simplifications and standardizations,” says Luis Araujo, Chief Executive Officer at Aker Solutions. “This agreement formalizes the companies’ joint ambitions of achieving efficiency and improvement goals.”

Several innovative and cost-efficient solutions have materialized from Aker Solutions’ and Equinor’s history of collaboration. Aker Solutions’ newest subsea production system with vertical trees and associated tools were developed in close collaboration with Equinor, designed to be more efficient and reduce life-cycle costs. The subsea equipment is smaller and lighter than previous versions and has now become Equinor’s standard solution. As well as adopting this technology on the Johan Castberg field, Equinor will use trees of the same design on its Troll and Askeladd fields offshore Norway and they have also been commissioned by other operators on the Norwegian Shelf, including Aker BP for the Ærfugl development.

“Equinor’s Johan Castberg development is an example of what can be achieved when we work in close collaboration with customers,” continues Luis Araujo.

Aker Solutions is a global provider of products, systems and services to the oil and gas industry. Its engineering, design and technology bring discoveries into production and maximize recovery. The company employs approximately 14,000 people in about 20 countries.

Equinor has also signed collaboration agreements with TechnipFMC for subsea equipment and services on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) and internationally.

For several decades, the subsea segment has been central in developing Equinor and the NCS. Equinor is operating close to 600 subsea wells, which account for a considerable share of the company’s total production. Norwegian supplier industry is in the forefront of subsea technology, development and operation.

“We are building on many years of good cooperation with two world-leading suppliers in the subsea segment. Together with TechnipFMC and Aker Solutions we aim to further develop current solutions and keep up the pressure on continuous improvements that enables future profitable projects,” says Margareth Øvrum, Equinor’s Executive Vice President for Technology, Projects & Drilling.

During the past years the whole industry has worked systematically on transitions aiming to achieve profitable and safe operations. The improvement effort throughout the industry has enabled Equinor to sanction projects that previously could not have been realised.

In 2017, Equinor and its partners sanctioned projects for more than NOK 90 billion on the NCS. Subsea procurements for the Johan Castberg, Snorre Expansion, Askeladd and Troll phase 3 projects accounted for a third of the global market last year.

In December 2017 Equinor entered into several framework agreements with TechnipFMC and Aker Solutions for delivery of subsea equipment and services. Through the new collaboration agreements now entered into Equinor is establishing a framework to ensure continuous improvements.

“The agreements give us the predictability and long-term perspective we need to work on improvements and be competitive over time,” says Peggy Krantz-Underland, Equinor’s Senior Vice President for procurement and supplier relations.

Two separate agreements have been signed with identical objectives. The work will focus on improvements in safety, quality, cost and technology from concept through project execution and subsea operations services.