Subsea 7 lands £63m BP North Sea contract

OFFSHORE engineering group Subsea 7 has landed a fresh $100 million (£63m) contract with BP for work on a massive project off the Shetland Islands.

The Aberdeen-based firm will help produce pipelines for the Clair Ridge drilling project, which is located where the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean meet.

The second phase of the giant Clair field forms part of £10 billion being spent on four projects by BP and its partners – Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Shell – over the next five years.

At their peak, the projects are expected to provide some 3,000 oil and gas supply jobs and play a part in sustaining the 3,500-plus jobs in BP’s North Sea operations.

Subsea 7, which has a 5,500-strong workforce across the globe, has landed similarly sized contracts with BP in the past. Some 100 jobs at Subsea 7’s base in Wick have been secured by the latest deal.

Steph McNeill, the firm’s vice-president for the UK, said: “We look forward to helping bring on-stream the Clair Ridge project in an efficient, timely and safe manner.”

Scottish Secretary Michael Moore said: “This major contract underlines the confidence of the oil and gas sector and world-leading engineering firms with bases in Scotland.

“The construction of the pipeline is an essential step in opening up the considerable potential of the west-of-Shetland field.”

Subsea 7, which also has a base in Leith, was founded by Norwegian investor Kristian Siem.