Saipem, an Italian energy industry construction and installation services provider, has secured two new offshore contracts in Australia and Turkey totaling more than $600 million for transportation and installation activities.
In Australia, Chevron awarded Saipem an offshore installation contract at the Jansz-lo Compression Project, a gas field located around 200 kilometers offshore the north-western coast of Australia, at water depths of approximately 1,400 meters. Jansz-lo is part of the Chevron-operated Gorgon Project, a grouping of different fields and one of the world’s largest natural gas developments.
Chevron, as the operator of the Gorgon gas project, in July decided to proceed with the $4 billion Jansz-Io Compression (J-IC) project. The Jansz–Io gas fields are located around 200 km off the north‐west coast of Western Australia in water depths of approximately 1,350 meters.
The compression project is set to help maintain gas supply from the Jansz-Io field to the three existing LNG trains and domestic gas plant on Barrow Island. Aker Solutions is responsible for the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) of the all-electric subsea gas compression system.
Saipem said that offshore operations under the contract with Chevron are planned to start in 2024. Saipem will use its Constellation vessel.
Sakarya
The second contract is for work at Turkey's giant gas field development project Sakarya in the Black Sea. Sakarya, discovered in 2020, is the first deepwater natural gas field discovered in Turkey in the Black Sea, about 175 km offshore the coast of Eregli.
The contract entails the transportation and installation of pipelines to a 2,200-meter water depth. The offshore operations are to begin in spring 2022 and will be conducted mainly by Saipem's Castorone vessel.
Francesco Caio, CEO and General Manager of Saipem, said: “The award of these two important contracts highlights our solid expertise in subsea installation and our world-class assets as well as being a tangible sign of recovery of the offshore market. These new contracts in the gas sector, a fundamental element of the energy transition, provide solid indications of the improvement in demand and testify to Saipem's capability of offering solutions in line with its clients’ needs."