Ocean Installer has landed one of the largest contracts in its history — a fast-track EPCI deal worth more than NOK 2,000 million from Vår Energi for the Balder Next New Wells Project in the North Sea.
The award, made under the strategic partnership the two companies established in 2022, covers a six-well satellite field expansion tied back to the Jotun FPSO on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. First oil is targeted within 2027.
Ocean Installer secures NOK 2 billion-plus EPCI deal for Balder Next New Wells
The contract value alone signals the scale of what is at stake. Moreld—Ocean Installer’s parent company—defines a “major” contract as one exceeding NOK 2,000 million, and this award clears that threshold comfortably. Worth noting: that figure excludes a separate EPC contract granted in Q4 2025 for the procurement of flexible flowlines and risers, so the total commercial relationship between the two companies on this project runs considerably deeper than the headline number suggests.
The project covers a six single-satellite well field expansion, with all six wells tied back to the Jotun FPSO — the floating production unit anchoring Vår Energi’s Balder area operations on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. First oil is targeted within 2027. Full project completion is expected in 2028.
Contract scope and strategic partnership background
Ocean Installer’s role here is broad. The company will execute all SURF installation activities, covering subsea umbilicals, risers, and flowlines. Combined with the EPC contract awarded in Q4 2025 for procurement of the flexible flowlines and risers, the two scopes together form a full EPCI delivery across the subsea infrastructure.
This is the third project contract awarded under the strategic partnership that Vår Energi and Ocean Installer formally established in June 2022. That framework was designed to streamline contracting and execution across multiple Balder area projects, cutting duplication and building on accumulated knowledge with each successive phase.
Ocean Installer will not be working alone. OneSubsea, another member of the strategic partnership, is responsible for supplying the Subsea Production System—part of a deliberate effort to coordinate major contractors under a shared framework, with each partner carrying a defined role in the overall development.
The project fits Vår Energi’s Balder area hub development strategy
The Balder Next New Wells Project is not a standalone investment. It sits inside a broader hub-based development strategy built around the Jotun FPSO as a central host facility. Tying new wells back to existing infrastructure lets the operator pursue cost-efficient subsea development without the expense of constructing new production platforms — a meaningful distinction in a mature basin.
Both companies trace the current relationship back to 2019. The Balder Future project marked the beginning of that collaboration, followed by the ongoing Balder Phase VI project, and each successive contract has added to the shared knowledge base between the two organizations.
Moreld CEO Geir Austigard pointed to Vår Energi’s long-standing relationship with the Moreld group as context for the award, describing the project as evidence of Vår Energi’s commitment to its hub-based North Sea strategy centered on the Jotun FPSO host.
Context: Balder area development history and North Sea outlook
The Balder field is a mature North Sea asset. Rather than treating that maturity as a ceiling, Vår Energi has pursued a series of phased infrastructure investments to extend the field’s productive life, with the Jotun FPSO serving as the anchor and receiving production from multiple satellite well clusters tied back through subsea infrastructure.
Ocean Installer has been part of that story since 2019. Work across the Balder Future and Balder Phase VI projects built a base of site-specific installation experience that carries direct relevance to the new contract. That kind of accumulated knowledge is precisely why hub-based strategies tend to favor contractor continuity — institutional familiarity with a site translates into measurable execution advantages that are hard to replicate from scratch.
The broader Norwegian Continental Shelf continues to attract large EPCI contracts as operators pursue tie-back strategies to extend field life and reduce per-barrel development costs. Hub-based development reduces the need for new standalone infrastructure, making it an economically attractive approach where existing facilities still carry meaningful remaining capacity.
Ocean Installer CEO Kevin Murphy described the Balder Next New Wells award as a natural continuation of the long-term partnership with Vår Energi. He noted that the two companies have already delivered and installed critical offshore infrastructure together and said Ocean Installer is proud to take part in what he called the next growth phase of the Balder area.
Ocean Installer wins fast-track status
The core facts of this award are straightforward. Ocean Installer, a wholly owned subsidiary of Moreld, has been awarded a fast-track EPCI contract by Vår Energi worth more than NOK 2,000 million. The contract covers SURF installation for a six-well satellite expansion tied back to the Jotun FPSO, and it is the third project contract under the strategic partnership the two companies established in June 2022. OneSubsea will supply the Subsea Production System. First oil is targeted within 2027, with project completion in 2028.
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