Qatar Petroleum has chartered the Energy Embracer jack-up drilling rig from Northern Offshore.
The Energy Embracer was delivered from the Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipyard in China to Northern Offshore in December 2018 and has since been warm stacked undergoing maintenance and inspections from the shipyard and OEM representatives.
The drilling unit is expected to start work offshore of Qatar in April 2020 for a period of two years plus options.
Northern Offshore Chairman and CEO Yuanhui Sun stated said: "We are very pleased to have contracted another high specification newbuild jack-up into the Middle East region.
"The contract for the Energy Embracer represents our third multi-year contract with Qatar Petroleum for work in the North Field offshore Qatar. This contract award is a significant milestone in the history of Northern Offshore as it successfully positions our fourth drilling unit into the market."
"These contracts provide Northern Offshore with fourteen rig-years of contract backlog and enable the company to further expand our fleet with additional newbuild jack-up rigs."
Northern Offshore did not provide any details on the day rate for the Energy Embracer contract.
Worth noting, Qatar Petroleum last year awarded contracts for eight offshore jack-up drilling rigs for its giant North Field Expansion Project.
Six contracts were awarded to Gulf Drilling International, and two to Northern Offshore. The two Northern Offshore rigs - the Energy Enticer and Energy Edge - were awarded four-year firm contracts (plus options).
The drilling units are expected to start work in Qatar in April 2020 and June 2020, respectively.