New Plymouth-headquartered STOS operator has awarded the main design and construction contract for the onshore production station at Motunui to Fletcher Construction, which intends using several Taranaki subcontractors for the project, including Fitzroy Engineering, Well's Instrument & Electrical, and Transfield Worley.

The Taranaki Daily News quotes FC general manager Graham Darlow as saying the contract was worth about NZ$90 million and would involve a workforce of about 500 people – 250 on-site and 250 off-site.

FC would be relocating up to 30 people - mostly project managers and site management staff - from other regions for the project.

The majority of the fabrication work for the production station would be done in Taranaki through Fitzroy Engineering. Transfield Worley, which had already done some preliminary Pohokura work, had won a design subcontract.

Transfield Worley general manager Simon Taylor said his firm’s contract was a substantial one, which would involve about 100,000 hours of design work.

Construction at the Motunui site is scheduled to start next March and continue until about June 2006. STOS operates to project on behalf of Shell New Zealand, Todd Energy and OMV New Zealand.