Aker Kvaerner has signed a five-year partnership agreement with Shell U.K. Limited and A/S Norske Shell ('Shell') covering the provision, installation, commissioning and life-of-field support of subsea control systems in the North Sea. The framework agreement is signed for an initial five year period, with five optional one-year extensions. It could be worth between GBP 20 and 30 million over the first five years. The contract encapsulates the two companies' solid working relationship, which has been running since the late 1970s. The deal brings Aker Kvaerner Subsea's controls delivery and service, including aftermarket services, into one contract arrangement to ensure maximum efficiency in supporting Shell's projects.
Delivery of the terms of the agreement will be managed from Aker Kvaerner Subsea's Aberdeen operations, where the global management of the controls systems organization is located. The Aberdeen office supervises subsea controls operations in Australia (Perth), Brazil (Curitiba), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur and Port Klang), Norway (Oslo) and the US (Houston).