Scots-based energy firms’ $1bn deals with Norway and Malaysia

KCA Deutag, the Aberdeen-based drilling firm sold by oil tycoon Alasdair Locke in 2008, has won a $700 million (£440m) contract from Statoil to operate oil rigs in Norwegian waters.

Aberdeen-based driller KCA Deutag, which was sold by oil tycoon Alasdair Locke in 2008, has won a $700m contract from Statoil to operate oil rigs in Norwegian waters.

Meanwhile, Petrofac picked up a $220m deal to refurbish a rig for Petronas, the Malaysian national oil giant.

KCA’s four-year contract – which could be extended for a further six years – covers seven oil rigs in the Gullfaks and Oseberg fields in the North Sea.

The Scottish firm already operates the Kvitebjørn platform for Statoil and has worked with the Norwegian energy giant for nearly 30 years.

Paul Horne, KCA’s country manager for Norway, said: “I look upon this award as a vote of confidence and an acknowledgement of the success of our previous drilling services provision for Statoil.”

Locke founded Abbot Group, KCA’s parent company, in 1992 and floated it in London in 1995. He was executive chairman when the company was sold to US private equity firm First Reserve for £906m in 2008.

Pamplona Capital Management now owns the majority stake in KCA, with its other shareholders consisting of BlackRock Financial Management, EIG Global Energy Partners and GoldenTree Asset Management.

In Malaysia, Petrofac – which has a large presence in Aberdeen and Montrose – will carry out a 15-month overhaul of the Bekok-C platform, which serves as a gas processing hub for the Bekok, Guntong and Tiong fields in the south-eastern part of the Malay basin.

Marwan Chedid, chief executive of Petrofac’s engineering, construction, operations and maintenance (Ecom) division, hailed the deal as a “considerable step forward” for the group.

He added: “I’m delighted that Petrofac has been charged with refurbishing the Bekok-C platform, which adds to the portfolio of important projects that we are delivering for Petronas.