First TLPs for offshore China

Technip is to help design China's first tension leg platforms (TLPs) under a contract with joint venture partner China Offshore Oil Engineering Co. (COOEC).

Image from CNOOC.

The two firms have been awarded a front-end engineering design (FEED) contract by China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) for two TLPs for the Liuhua 11-1 and 16-2 joint development project in the South China Sea.

With in-place reserves estimated at 1 billion bbl of crude oil, Liuhua is described as the largest offshore field in production in China. The field had been operated by BP, since the first discoveries on the field in 1987. CNOOC took it over in 2003. Liuhua sits 240km southeast of Hong Kong, in about 370m water depth.

As key technical partner to COOEC, Technip will carry out the FEED work. The contract covers the design and engineering of the topsides (including two drilling rigs), hulls, mooring and riser systems. The work is expected to be completed by the end of 2015.

Technip's operating center in Houston, Texas, USA, will execute the FEED contract.

Deanna Goodwin, President of Technip in North America, stated: “We are very proud to have earned the confidence of our client CNOOC Ltd. and partner COOEC. We are looking forward to developing a strong long-lasting collaboration with both of them on this exciting key project.”

In February, Technip told investors in a conference call the firm has cut 1,800 jobs in recent months, about 15% of which were contracted. The firm employed about 40,000 in 2014. The company also reduced its fleet of oil service vessels from 36 to 21, with six others under construction in an effort to dispose of older vessels and add top-of-the-line ships to its fleet. Technip plans to cut capital expenditures by $342 million this year, in part to have cash available for potential acquisitions in the ongoing downturn in oil prices.

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