Vår Energi Pens Deals with Dozen Norwegian Service Firms

Norwegian oil and gas company Vår Energi said Wednesday it had entered into five-year framework agreements with twelve Norwegian service providers.

The framework agreements include the provision of services both offshore and onshore, and, according to Vår Energi the agreements may contribute to "significant employment."

The agreements, signed with IKM, Acona, Ross, AGR, Cegal, Semco, MDE, Head, Sopra Steria, Omega, Norse, and TS Group, cover engineering services, exploration, subsurface, drilling, HSE, IT and HR services, etc are covered by the agreements.

The agreements also include more than 40 subcontractors, which provide specialized expertise within various disciplines, Vår Energi said, which on average produces 300,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boepd) per day, said.

Vår Energi's VP Procurement at Annethe Gjerde said: "The framework agreements make us well equipped to handle limited periods of high levels of activity or in short term needs for specialized expertise, over the next few years."

She said that the tax support package for the oil and gas industry, adopted by the Norwegian parliament this summer, has helped the company maintain a high level of activity despite a very challenging situation caused by the pandemic and period of low oil price."

"Therefore, we will periodically need to bring in extra resources within a number of disciplines in the coming years. We are very pleased to engage with several Norwegian suppliers with extensive expertise and experience from Norwegian offshore activities. The good partnership between operators and suppliers in Norway is essential for the competitiveness of this industry," Gjerde said.

"In the spring of 2020, the dramatic decline in oil prices, mainly due to the corona pandemic, necessitated certain activity cuts in order to reduce costs. We are still doing what we can to keep costs as low as possible, also with the help of skilled and efficient suppliers. However, with the support of the Parliament, we can now maintain many of the activities originally planned. This will ensure employment for many people in the years ahead," Gjerde added.

To remind, back in July, Vår Energi resumed drilling offshore Norway after it had postponed drilling operations in the spring due to the corona pandemic and oil price collapse. The company said at the time that the decision to resume drilling had been made possible by the temporary changes in the petroleum tax, adopted by the Norwegian parliament.