Maersk Drilling has named its latest ultra harsh environment jackup drilling rig, the Maersk Intrepid, ahead of its first deployment development drilling on the Martin Linge field offshore Norway.
Maersk Intrepid is the first in a series of four ultra harsh environment jackup rigs to enter Maersk Drilling’s rig fleet. The four jackup rigs represent a total investment of US$2.6 billion.
The first three jackup rigs, including Maersk Intrepid, will be delivered from the Keppel FELS shipyard in 2014-2015, and the fourth will be delivered from the Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) shipyard in South Korea in 2016.
After delivery from the yard, Maersk Intrepid will mobilize to the North Sea and start a four-year contract with Total E&P Norge for drilling the wells on the Martin Linge field development in the Norwegian North Sea. The contract includes four, one-year options. The estimated contract value is US$550 million.
“With the naming of the Maersk Intrepid, we are opening a new chapter in Maersk Drilling’s Norwegian history. We have invested in the Maersk Intrepid and its three sister rigs in order to continue to grow and leverage our market leading position in Norway. The Maersk Intrepid is the first of the four rigs being delivered and I am very pleased that it is going to Norway to work for one of our key customers, Total E&P Norge AS,” says Claus V. Hemmingsen, CEO of Maersk Drilling and member of the Executive Board of the A.P. Moller – Maersk Group.
Facts about the new ultra harsh environment XL Enhanced jackups from Maersk Drilling
With a leg length of 206.8 m (678 ft) the rigs are the world’s largest jack-up rigs and are designed for year round operation in the North Sea, in water depths up to 150 m (492 ft).Uptime and drilling efficiency are maximised through dual pipe handling. While one string is working in the well bore, a second string of e.g. casing, drill pipe or bottom hole assembly can be assembled/disassembled and stored in the set-back area, ready for subsequent transfer for use in the well bore thus reducing the non-productive time. The drill floor features Multi Machine Control - a fully remote operated pipe handling system allowing all standard operations such as stand building and tripping to be conducted without personnel on the drill floor thus ensuring a high level of consistency across crews and an improved efficiency.
Karen Tiffen, wife of Martin Tiffen, Managing Director of Total E&P Norge AS, was picked to name the rig, in the presence of Lui Tuck Yew, Minister for Transport in Singapore.
Subscribe
