Mechanical services company EnerMech has been awarded an £8.2 million ($12M) crane operation, maintenance and inspection contract by BP Exploration (Caspian Sea) Ltd in Azerbaijan.
The three year deal includes the provision of core personnel for offshore crane operations in Baku, lifting equipment, engineering and technical services, spare parts, repair and refurbishment and training services.
The workscope covers 12 BP offshore pedestal cranes operating in the Chirag, Central Azeri, West Azeri, East Azeri and deepwater Gunashli developments, as well as the Shah Deniz gas development project in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea.
It’s anticipated EnerMech will deploy an average of 60 staff per year in Baku, including offshore core crews, ad hoc crews and office staff. An important element of the deal is EnerMech’s commitment to employ Azeri nationals in the majority of posts within 30 months of the start of the contract.
To support the nationalisation programme, EnerMech will mobilize a new £500,000 state-of-the art Crane Simulator to Baku for crane operator competency assessment and additional onshore training for Azerbaijani staff.
EnerMech managing director, Doug Duguid, said the award by BP-operated projects was a major breakthrough for the Aberdeen-based company and represented its first crane contract with the international operator.
Mr Duguid said: “This is undoubtedly an important award by BP-operated projects which underlines our international credentials for being able to undertake wide ranging crane maintenance and training workscopes.
“A differentiator was our willingness to commit to training and employing Azerbaijani nationals during the entirety of the contract and that process will start as soon as our crane simulator arrives in Baku.”
Mr Duguid said the award would also see a staffing up of EnerMech personnel in Azerbaijan in preparation for expanding operations in to other countries in the Caspian region.
He added: “This contract is important strategically as it allows us the opportunity to introduce our other service lines such as equipment hire, hydraulics, hose management and training in to Azerbaijan and it also gives us a springboard for future expansion in to Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Georgia.”
In April EnerMech acquired hydraulics engineering firm Norson Power in an £11 million deal and the enlarged group’s 2010 revenue is forecast to exceed £60 million.