UP to 250 jobs will be created in the North East after engineering group Wilton won a multi-million pound fabrication contract from global energy giant ConocoPhillips.
Wilton Engineering Services (WESL) successfully tendered for the Long Term Compression (LTC) module for the Britannia gasfield development off the coast of Aberdeen.
It’s the Middlesbrough company’s first contract with one of the industry’s global giants and work has already started at WESL’s 50-acre Port Clarence offshore yard, which is shares with fellow Wilton Group company Universal Coatings.
The fabrication will initially create around 100 jobs with a further 150 sub-contractors expected to be employed on the contract.
Wilton Group chief executive, Bill Scott, said: “It is our first major project with an oil major. You’ve got your BPs, Shells, and ConocoPhillips is right up there with them. They have a long history in the North Sea.
“It is our first project with these guys, it is a significant contract. A lot of these larger projects are awarded abroad. We are hoping this is the turning point where fabrication contracts are returning to the UK.”
The 30m long, 29m high and 18m wide LTC module, to house one of the biggest compressors in the North Sea, is being constructed to extend the life of the Britannia field, which lies around 130 miles off the Scottish coast.
The field’s main platform was originally constructed at the Wilton Group’s Port Clarence facility in 1995.
