Tees Valley firm wins £1.5m rig contract
A TEES Valley company specialising in explosion and fire protection has clinched a £1.5m contract during construction of a “hotel” platform in the North Sea.
Mech-Tool Engineering, of Darlington, will supply stainless steel external fire wall cladding for a new living quarters platform for BP Norge AS, as part of the Norwegians’ Valhall Oil Field re-development.
The firm has seen its workforce grow from 100 to around 160 staff in the last two years and bosses say the latest contract will help guarantee work for six to 12 months.
The contract is also expected to create jobs at the company’s head office in Whessoe Road, Darlington, and manufacturing centres in Darlington and Middlesbrough.
Ian Farquharson, general manager of Mech-Tool’s fire and blast wall products division, said: “In respect of fire and blast protection, it is arguably our most prestigious contract to date and will take standards of offshore accommodation to a new level in terms of both safety and comfort.”
The new living quarters will include 180 single-bed cabins, as opposed to multiple occupation rooms on Valhall’s existing Quarters Platform.
Mech-Tool will supply 4,800sq m of fire-rated stainless steel cladding that will effectively form a protective skin around the nine-storey platform.
The Valhall field, which began production in 1982, has oil reserves to 2050, estimated at 247 million barrels.
It expects to start production from additional exploration in 2010.
The new accommodation will replace an existing platform, which has been home to workers since 1979.
SLP Engineering, of Lowestoft, the main construction contractors on the Valhall Redevelopment Project, awarded the cladding contract to Mech-Tool.
The contract is due for completion in June 2009, but it hopes to win an additional order to supply all 36 doors for the accommodation platform, which will similarly be fire-rated to offshore standards, which will extend the contract until 2010.
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