Statoil has awarded Odfjell Drilling two contracts worth more than US$550 million (NOK 4.35 billion) for drilling services on its massive Johan Sverdrup field.
The $14.8 billion first phase development on the field will see four, bridge-linked installations alone, as well as subsea templates. Overall the field is expected to unlock some 1.7-3 billion boe.
Odfjell's Deepsea Atlantic semisubmersible drilling rig (pictured) will work for three years, plus six, six-month extension options on the Johan Sverdrup field, from March 2016, drilling a minimum 13 pilot wells on the field, prior to production start from late-2019. Odfjell will also provide platform drilling services on the Johan Sverdrup drilling platform for four years, plus six, one-year options, starting December 2018.
The platform drilling rig will be built by Aibel with Nymo in Grimstad, and National Oilwell in Kristiansand, Norway. Aibel was awarded a contract for engineering support for the construction of the drilling platform in February this year.
Both contracts are subject to the approval of the plan for development and operation of Johan Sverdrup by the Norwegian parliament in 2015.
"These contract awards contribute significantly to increase the order backlog and earnings visibility of Odfjell Drilling during a tough market cycle. The employment of Deepsea Atlantic under a long-term contract in Norway and the increased market share for our platform drilling services in the North Sea are of great importance and inspiration to our whole organization," says Odfjell CEO Simen Lieungh.
The Odfjell owned and operated Deepsea Atlantic is a sixth generation, dual derrick, deepwater and harsh environment semisubmersible of an enhanced GVA 7500 design. The unit, which can work in up to 3000m water depth, was built by DSME in South Korea.
Odfjell currently provides integrated drilling services on 19 production facilities in UK and Norway. Under existing contracts with Statoil, Odfjell Drilling already provides platform drilling services on seven installations in Norway and is involved in the design and construction phase of the Mariner field in the UK where drilling operations will start in 2017.
Image from Odfjell Drilling.
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