Forgemasters wins £5.5m offshore oil deal

Sheffield Forgemasters’ offshore oil and gas specialist Vulcan SFM has secured the contract to supply 73 steel castings ranging from 0.5 tonnes to 19.5 tonnes, for a semi-submersible oil platform, the hull of which is being built in Korea by SHI for operation in a Gulf of Mexico oilfield.

The project is the first major offshore development to be sanctioned following a global cessation of offshore oil and gas developments in 2015.

Paul Mockford, design director at Vulcan SFM, said: “It is a testament to Sheffield Forgemasters’ standing in the offshore oil and gas sector that we should win this contract for the first major offshore development since 2015. We have a long-standing relationship with SHI and our track record in delivering robust cast engineering solutions for use in offshore oil and gas developments is unparalleled.

“The contract is for a range of components, 20 of which are module support castings which allow the topside modules to sit on the hull of semi-submersible platform – the remaining castings are structural components within the hull.”

Sheffield Forgemasters will manufacture the castings to the client’s design. Delivery of the components is expected to start in late 2017/early 2018. The new floating production platform will have the capacity to produce up to 140,000 gross barrels of crude oil per day from up to 14 production wells. Oil production is expected to begin in late 2021.