Aker BP, on behalf of the Wellhead Platform Alliance, has awarded liquid handling and pump specialist PG Flow Solutions a contract to supply a number of pump systems for the normally unmanned wellhead platform to be used at the planned Hod field development in the North Sea.
The contract award follows an agreement between a broad political majority in Norway to make temporary changes to the Norwegian petroleum tax system. The Hod development in the Valhall area is Aker BP’s first project to be launched as a direct result of the tax changes.
“It is reassuring to see that operators stay true to their word and initiate projects that were put on hold as a consequence of the extraordinary negative effects caused by the Covid-19 outbreak. New projects allow us, as a supplier, to continuously evolve our offering in order to help make field developments more competitive and to increasingly apply this competence in other industries, such as aquaculture, fisheries and renewables, as we have done over the past decade,” says Steve Paulsen, CEO of PG Flow Solutions.
The planned wellhead platform to be named “Hod B” is the second project in the Wellhead Platform Alliance, which was established in 2017 by Aker BP, Kvaerner, ABB and Aker Solutions. The alliance’s first project was the successful Valhall Flank West field development, including its normally unmanned wellhead platform which came on stream in 4Q 2019.
Under the contract, PG Flow Solutions will deliver miscellaneous pumps to the platform topside, including a pressure equalising pump, freshwater pump, freshwater pressure pump, diesel transfer pump, and one hazardous open drain pump.
PG Flow Solutions has not disclosed the value of the contract, which is subject to government approval of the plan for development and operations (PDO). The company will manage the project out of its facility in Sande, Vestfold, Norway.
The contract is almost identical to the pump system delivery that PG Flow Solutions made to Aker BP and the Wellhead Platform Alliance for the Valhall Flank West wellhead platform in 2018.
“Re-using already proven solutions and development plans reduce costs and risks for both suppliers and the operator. We are therefore very comfortable with the scope of work and delivery schedule indicated for the Hod platform too,” says Mark Tuinman, sales manager – energy, at PG Flow Solutions.
The new Hod platform concept is basically a copy of the Valhall Flank West platform design, with minor changes to functional requirements and some changes resulting from lessons learned from the Valhall Flank West design, commissioning and handover phases.
The Hod field was discovered in 1974; first oil came onstream in 1990 as a tie back to Valhall Central Complex, producing via a wellhead platform until 2013. The Hod field development project is now working towards a new development of the Hod field, planning to install a new normally unmanned platform that will be tied-back to and remotely controlled from the Valhall Central Complex.
The Hod field is located in Block 2/11 in the southern part of the Norwegian sector of the North Sea, approximately 12 km south of Valhall Central Complex, 6 km south of the Valhall Flank South platform. The operator is Aker BP AS, holding 90 percent working interests, with Pandion Energy AS as the sole license partner holding the remaining 10 percent.
PG Flow Solutions provides proprietary solutions, systems and products for companies within the energy, maritime, aquaculture and land-based process industries. The heritage of the business is pumps and pumping systems. The company’s headquarters and manufacturing facility is located in Sande, Vestfold, Norway. Its subsidiary Calder Ltd operates out of a similar facility in Worchester outside Birmingham, UK, while subsidiary Cflow Fish Handling AS operates out of Aalesund, Norway.