Schlumberger notches win in Norway

Jan. 20 (UPI) -- In a sign of further market recovery, oilfield services company Schlumberger said it secured its second batch of work of the year from Norway's Statoil.

Schlumberger subsidiary OneSubsea said it secured from Statoil a contract to help build and develop subsea production systems for the Utgard natural gas complex in the North Sea.

OneSubsea President Mike Garding said the work will help bring Utgard into commercial production in a cost-effective way.

"We are committed to supporting Statoil in their drive to break the cost curve," he said.

The market downturn characterized by historically low crude oil prices last year sidelined companies like Schlumberger as investments in exploration and production dwindled. Crude oil prices during the latter half of last year started to recover and an agreement from members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to curb output put a floor under the market with the price for Brent crude oil holding steadily above the $50 per barrel mark.

Schlumberger Chairman and CEO Paal Kibsgaard said the business environment had stabilized, after "calling the bottom of the cycle" in second quarter 2016.

The One Subsea agreement with Statoil is the second so for this year. Schlumberger and industry counterpart Baker Hughes were awarded contracts by Statoil to help develop infrastructure slated for operations in the Oseberg and the Gullfaks fields in the North Sea early this week.

Both service companies have an active footprint in the Norwegian energy sector already. Norway is one of the world leaders in oil and natural gas production.

Statoil submitted its project development plans for Utgard to the government last year. At its peak, the company said the field could produce up to 245,000 cubic feet of oil equivalents per day in natural gas and an ultra-light form of oil known as condensate.

Capital spending will be around $420 million dollars and first production is expected by late 2019.