ENI awards 845 million euro contract to Hyundai in Norway
(OSLO) - The Norwegian unit of Italian energy group ENI said Monday it had awarded a 6.9-billion-kroner (845-million-euro,1.16-billion-dollar) contract to Hyundai Heavy Industries of South Korea to build an oil installation in the Barents Sea.
"Based on thorough evaluation of both technical and commercial criteria, the most competitive bid was selected," ENI Norge said in a statement.
The move is a blow to Norwegian Aker Solutions, which had been hoping to win the bid to replenish its orders.
The contract was awarded to build a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit for the Goliat project, to be the first oil field exploited in the Norwegian waters of the Barents Sea.
The total development cost of the Goliat field was estimated to be around 28 billion kroner in May 2009, when the Norwegian government gave to go-ahead to the project.
In a seperate statement, Norwegian group Aker Solutions said it was disappointed to have missed out on a contract that could have generated 7,000 jobs in Norway.
"We are naturally disappointed, but our focus now is on winning other new build projects and securing our offshore competence in a challenging market," senior vice president for corporate communication Jannik Lindbaek said.
According to ENI Norge, Norwegian suppliers are to obtain contracts worth "between 50 and 70 percent" of the total value of the Goliat project.
Goliat is 65 held by ENI Norge and 35 percent by Norwegian Statoil.
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