Global energy technology company SLB has announced that its OneSubsea joint venture has secured an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract from Equinor for a 12-well, all-electric Subsea Production System (SPS) in the Fram Sør field, located offshore Norway.
The contract follows a year-long collaborative Front-End Engineering Design phase during which Equinor and SLB OneSubsea jointly advanced the project. This collaboration resulted in the finalized development plan and final investment decision (FID). Under the EPC scope, SLB OneSubsea will provide four subsea templates and 12 all-electric subsea trees. This eliminates the need for hydraulic fluid supplied from the host platform and minimizes topside modifications, offering a cost-efficient solution while preserving topside capacity for potential future developments in the area.
"Fram Sør is a breakthrough project for our industry, marking the first large-scale all-electric subsea production system," said Mads Hjelmeland, chief executive officer of SLB OneSubsea. "Not only do all-electric subsea solutions significantly reduce topside needs to make large-scale tiebacks such as the Fram Sør development possible, but they also hold the key to unlock more marginal resources through their reduced footprint and simplified operations."
The development will be executed as a subsea tieback to the Troll C host platform in the North Sea, enhancing energy supply security from the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) to Europe. Since the host platform is powered from the Norwegian mainland, production from Fram Sør will have very low emissions.
The contract remains subject to regulatory approval of the plan for development and operations (PDO).
