Covering piping, beams and units for the Statfjord A platform, this work will help to improve recovery and secure production from the North Sea field up to 2020.

Vetco Aibel was awarded a NOK 600 million contract in April for modifications on the installation, while Aker Kvaerner is doing a similar job on the B and C platforms for NOK 1.9 billion.

All three of these facilities are being modified from producing oil with associated gas to delivering gas with associated oil.

"This represents the largest and most complex offshore modification programme we’ve ever pursued," reports project director Bjarne Bakken.

"Good cooperation with the suppliers, particularly for health, safety and the environment, will be crucial for success."

Smedvig has earlier been awarded a contract worth almost NOK 600 million to modify the drilling facilities on Statfjord B and C.

The modification work is due to run over a four-five year period, while all three platforms remain in full production.

More than 1,000 people will be employed under the three contracts, with additional staffing at peak periods.

The scope of the work is put at roughly three million hours offshore and a similar volume on land, plus some prefabrication activity.

Statoil expects to improve Statfjord’s recovery factor to nearly 70 per cent for oil and 75 per cent for gas through the late life project.

Additional recoverable reserves are estimated at 32 billion cubic metres of gas, 25 million barrels of oil and 60 million barrels of condensate (light oil).

Total investments are put at NOK 16.1 billion. This will include the Tampen Link rich gas pipeline which will be laid from Statoil’s Statfjord field and tie into the British Flags system, which links the Brent field with St Fergus in Scotland.