Government welcomes announcement of FPSO work for province

Ed Byrne, Minister of Natural Resources, welcomed the announcement today that the Additional Living Quarters (ALQ) required for the Terra Nova FPSO will be fabricated and assembled in the province.

PetroCanada, operators of the Terra Nova FPSO, and engineering contractor Kellogg Brown Root (KBR), have awarded the contract for the ALQ to North Eastern Constructors Limited (NECL) which will use the Bull Arm site to build the ALQ. The ALQ is a 40-bed module that will be installed on the FSPO.

Minister Byrne indicated government had been in discussions with PetroCanada in recent months regarding the amount of work that could be captured in the province as part of the planned turnaround for the Terra Nova FPSO in 2006. The Terra Nova FPSO has to be taken off site and dry-docked at a location outside of the country since there is no dry dock large enough to accommodate the FPSO. However, the minister said government worked with PetroCanada to ensure that work that could be completed outside of the dry dock scope of work would be done in the province.

"Most of the work that will take place in dry dock is regulatory and associated maintenance," said Minister Byrne. "However, part of the work also includes adding additional living quarters to the FPSO and it was very clear that this work could certainly take place in the province providing local benefits."

Minister Byrne praised PetroCanada for its willingness to work co-operatively with government to ensure these local benefits. The minister pointed out two-thirds of the work to be completed by PetroCanada during the 2006 turnaround will be completed in the province and in addition to the fabrication and assembly of the ALQ, includes all the project management, engineering and procurement for the dry dock work.

"This is a significant piece of work that will take place in the province," said Minister Byrne. "It is further evidence that this province has the capacity to support major construction projects in terms of having a skilled workforce and the required infrastructure."

Minister Byrne also congratulated NECL on securing the contract. The company plans to carry out this work at the Bull Arm site. NECL has been using the Bull Arm site since 2003 for various contracts as have other companies including Penney Energy and Cooper Cameron.

"The Bull Arm site continues to prove that it is an invaluable asset in securing fabrication activity in support of the province�s industrial development," said Joan Cleary, president and CEO of the Bull Arm Site Corporation. "In recent years, this site has been used for work related to the petroleum industry including the White Rose project and modifications to the Henry Goodrich drill rig as well as work associated with other major projects including the Voisey�s Bay project."

Media contact: Carmel Turpin, Communications, (709) 729-5282, 685-4624, carmelturpin@gov.nl.ca

2006 01 04                                2:45 p.m.