North Sea field gets kick start

French engineering company Technip announced it secured an award to build infrastructure associated with an oil field in the North Sea. Technip secured a contract from EnQuest Britain Ltd. to build infrastructure needed to get oil delivered from the Alma and Galia oil fields located off the coast of Aberdeen. EnQuest in November announced it was moving ahead with production at the fields, about 190 miles of the Scottish coast. Peak production by the fourth quarter of 2013 is expected to top 20,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day through a production storage and offloading unit. Regionally, the Norwegian government announced plans for a Tuesday forum on development of natural resources in arctic waters. "Petroleum activities have been carried out in the arctic for several decades and at this conference the industry and the authorities will share their experiences and future plans," the government said. Melting sea ice is exposing vast areas that may hold undiscovered oil and natural gas reserves, sparking concerns about the potential environmental consequences of exploration in these areas.