DeepOcean Scores 4-Year Frame Agreement with Equinor

Ocean services provider DeepOcean has finalized a frame agreement with Equinor ASA for marine services covering subsea intervention and repair contingency for subsea pipelines, structures and high-voltage cables for both offshore renewables and oil and gas fields.

The four-year agreement has options for an extension of up to four more years, DeepOcean said in a recent news release. The financial details were not disclosed.

DeepOcean added that the agreement is valid for work on the Norwegian continental shelf and internationally for planned Equinor work and for contingency work for Norway-based Pipeline Repair and Subsea Intervention (PRSI) pool members. The PRSI pool consists of 23 energy companies that cover their offshore pipeline and power cable repair contingency via the pool.

For work on offshore renewable energy fields, the agreement covers planned or unplanned marine services related to subsea high voltage cables. For the offshore oil and gas industry, it covers planned or unplanned marine services using remote-operated intervention methods. Under the agreement, DeepOcean may also be asked to undertake various engineering or preparedness studies as requested by Equinor or PRSI pool members, according to the release.

DeepOcean plans to manage the contract delivery out of its office in Haugesund, Norway, supported by the company’s international operations wherever required. 

“Such a long-term agreement allows us to constantly evolve working methods, collaboration models and technologies, with the objective of making offshore operations and subsea cable repair work as cost-effective as possible,” Olaf Hansen, managing director of DeepOcean’s European operation, said. “We look forward to supporting Equinor and the PRSI Pool members over the coming years”.

“DeepOcean has a 400-people-strong engineering team that are specialists on solving subsea challenges across industries,” Normann Vikse, offshore renewables director at DeepOcean, said. “We are industry agnostic and share learnings and experiences from subsea operations across different types of operations and industries in order to develop the best possible solutions for our clients. Our experience from oil and gas is highly valuable for offshore renewables – and vice versa”.

DeepOcean said it has already received the first call-offs for work under the new frame agreement. On behalf of Gassco and Equinor, DeepOcean will perform seabed preparations and complex remote hot tap tie-in operations at three different locations on the Norwegian continental shelf. Hot tapping is a method of connecting to a pressurized system, such as a pipeline, without removing the pipe from service.

In February, DeepOcean also secured a contract from Equinor to deliver pipeline inspection and survey scopes for the operator’s pipelines in the North Sea. DeepOcean’s scope of work includes pipeline inspections, seabed mapping, ad-hoc pipeline survey, and light construction work.

The agreement is valid for 2024 and is an additional award under DeepOcean’s frame agreement with Equinor for the provision of offshore survey services, the company said in an earlier statement.

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