China Oilfiled Services Ltd. (COSL) has filed a civil action lawsuit against Norwegian giant Statoil for terminating the drilling contract for the COSL Innovator in March. The rig has been under investigations by both the Petroleum Safety Authority of Norway (PSA), and several industry giants, following a fatal incident that occurred on the rig in December 2015 at the Troll field in the Norwegian North Sea.
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Image of the COSL Innovator, from COSL. |
According to COSL, differences between the two parties, COSL and Statoil, have yet to be resolved regarding the terminated contracts.
COSL said it strongly disagrees with Statoil’s decision to terminate the contracts and under its subsidiary, COSL Offshore Management (COM), has filed a claim against Statoil today (14 December) with the Oslo District Court of Norway.
Neither discovery nor the court hearing has yet commenced, COSL said.
“COM has claimed that Statoil’s termination of the contract was unlawful and has claimed the contract to be maintained. If the contract cannot be maintained, COM has claimed that Statoil is obliged to cover COM’s loss resulting from the unlawful termination, and the exact amount of damages will be subject to subsequent proceedings,” COSL said in a statement.
In March, COSL said it would have to cut 230 jobs from its workforce due to the terminated contract from Statoil.
“The conditions for terminating the contract signed with COSL Offshore Management have in our opinion been met, and we therefore choose to use our contractual right to terminate the contract,” Geir Tungesvik, Statoil’s senior vice president for drilling and well said in March.
The COSL Innovator began its eight-year contract with Statoil on the Troll field in November 2012.
In December 2015, one person died and two more were injured after a breaking wave hit the semisubmersible drilling rig. The rig has been under heavy investigations since then, with the PSA revealing in April, that the rig was not built to endure weather conditions that occurred on the night of incident.
However, in July, the PSA retracted its order handed to COSL Drilling Europe, after discovering new information and finding that no deviations were found in the design of the rig.
Read more:
PSA revokes COSL Innovator order
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