Technip, Subsea7 target Asia Pacific

International oil and gas engineering/construction heavyweights Technip and Subsea 7 have formed a Perth-based joint venture to battle for lucrative subsea contracts in the Asia Pacific region.

The new company, formed by affiliates Technip Oceania and Subsea 7 Singapore, with an initial staff of up to 50, will begin operations on January 1 next year from premises at 100 Hay Street in West Perth, subject to all regulatory clearances. A Technip spokesman told WA Business News from Paris the joint venture will also be able to hire its own personnel.

During its first four years the company will be chaired by a represen-tative from Subsea 7, with the chief executive officer coming from Technip.

Under the terms of the memorandum of understanding, the joint venture will bid for and carry out all engineering, procurement, construction, installation commission-ing and maintenance contracts for the subsea production and transportation of oil and gas in the region, excluding India and the Middle East.

The Technip spokesman said the company would be targeting the “bigger, more demanding projects” and would have exclusive operational control of two large vessels, the Technip Venturer and Subsea 7’s Rockwater 2. Other vessels from the Technip and Subsea 7 fleets will also be used on an ad hoc basis.

Technip employs about 20,000 people and ranks among the top five oil, gas and petrochemical companies in the world.

Subsea 7, partly owned by Halliburton, employs more than 3,000 people and is one of the world’s leading subsea engineering and construction contractors, with more than 100 remotely operated vehicles, 16 multi-purpose vessels and five pipeline construction yards.

The two companies have worked together on past projects in the region, including the trunkline system expansion project for Woodside, and are currently involved in the Kikeh subsea project awarded by Murphy Sabah Oil Company.