UK-based construction firm SLP Engineering has been placed in administration due to an unresolved dispute with Maersk Oil Qatar over work on Maersk’s offshore Al-Shaheen oil field development.

According to a statement issued in February, Maersk Oil Qatar, the local subsidiary of Denmark’s Maersk Oil & Gas, revealed it had initiated arbitration against SLP after terminating the firm’s contract for delivery of offshore accommodation platforms in September 2008.

Administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) says the dispute remains unresolved despite attempts to settle between the two parties.

“In the absence of any clear prospect of resolution, the SLP Board concluded they were left with no option than to invite the appointment of administrators,” according to a PwC statement issued on 27 November.

In February, Maersk Oil Qatar said a “significant” number of man-hours of contractual work remained incomplete, despite concessions on the work schedule, payment terms and provision of financial support to SLP by Maersk”.

In the same month, SLP rejected Maersk’s allegations and said it would issue its own claims “far in excess” of the amounts claimed by Maersk.

It says the four accommodation modules were delivered to Maersk from Lowestoft and all platforms are installed in Qatar.

Maersk awarded the estimated $100m fabrication and installation contract to SLP on Al-Shaheen in 2006.

The $5bn Al-Shaheen project aims to boost production capacity at the field from 240,000 barrels a day (b/d) in 2006 to 525,000 b/d by the end of 2009.