British oilfield services provider Petrofac, in a joint venture (JV) with Turkish Standards Institution (TSE), has secured a three-year multi-million dollar Project Management Consultancy (PMC) services contract in support of Phase III of the BOTAS North Marmara Underground Gas Storage Expansion Project in Turkey, the company announced last week.

Located approximately 60 kilometers (37 miles) west of Istanbul, the gas storage facility has been in operation since 2007 and BOTAS Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAS) intends to expand its working gas capacity to 4.6 billion cubic meters, according to Petrofac's statement.

"The TSE-Petrofac JV is responsible for managing and supervising areas which will cover the main phases and scopes of work. These include detailed design, engineering, procurement, construction, drilling and decommissioning, along with commissioning and start-up activities," it added.

Roberto Bertocco, managing director of Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management at Petrofac said they were pleased to partner with TSE in the delivery of this "key project" for BOTAS.

"This is our second award in Turkey in just under a year and is further evidence of our growth strategy in action. The opportunity to provide expertise and best practice through the provision of PMC services further demonstrates our capability to safely and effectively oversee key activities in the delivery of substantial programs of work," he said.

Koray Yenigurbuz, group head at TSE and the JV project director, said the overall project involved the expansion of the facility with both onshore and offshore components.

"The TSE-Petrofac partnership brings together significant international experience as well as local delivery capability and we look forward to working collaboratively towards the successful delivery of this project for BOTAS," he added.

BOTAS, whose capital belongs to Turkey’s Undersecretariat of Treasury and is a related institution of the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, operates in crude oil transportation, as well as transportation, distribution, import, storage, marketing, trade and export of natural gas.

By Hale Turkes

Anadolu Agency

energy@aa.com.tr