A total of 350 new oil jobs are to be created after a Scottish business won two new contracts with Premier Oil worth £140m.
A total of 350 new jobs are to be created after a Scottish business won two new contracts worth £140m.
Burntisland Fabrications (BiFab) announced it had been awarded contracts for the design, procurement and construction of major components for a new oil platform.
The work, being carried out for Premier Oil‘s Solan development to the West of Shetland, means BiFab’s workforce will have doubled in size by December this year. It will also allow the firm to continue its apprenticeship programme, which it began five years ago.
The first contract is for a topsides module – the part of an oil platform which sits above the water which houses the oil production plant, accommodation block and the drilling rig. The second contract is for an 8,000-tonne jacket – an oil platform’s underwater support structure.
The work – which is expected to be completed by April 2014 – will involve BiFab’s sites at Methil and Burntisland in Fife and Arnish on the Isle of Lewis.
He added: “This latest success enhances BiFab’s growing reputation as a major manufacturer of topsides and jackets for the North Sea. BiFab is known as one of the largest manufacturers of jacket sub-structures for offshore wind turbines but this is the largest jacket to date for the oil and gas sector.”
Meanwhile Premier’s regional manager for the North Sea, Nigel Wilson, said: “We are delighted to have awarded the contracts for the jacket and topsides, which constitute the largest components of the Solan field development, to BiFab.”
Scottish Secretary Michael Moore hailed the awarding of the contracts to BiFab as “testament to the confidence and capability of Scotland’s manufacturing and oil sectors”.
He added: “It is good news, particularly in terms of the 350 additional oil and gas jobs which will be created, and underlines the strength of the North Sea industry and the industries which support it.”
