Drilling & Completion News
Transocean newbuilds win decade-long contracts
Transocean has secured 10-year contracts from Shell for four dynamically positioned ultra-deepwater newbuild drillships. Shipyard delivery for the first drillship is scheduled for mid-2015. The remaining three drillships are expected to be delivered from the shipyard at approximately six-month intervals thereafter. The contracts are expected to commence in 2015 and 2016.
All four drillships are designed to operate in water depths up to 12,000 ft and drill wells to 40,000 ft. The newbuilds will feature dual-activity drilling technology and a variable deckload capacity of 23,000 metric tons. Two 15,000-psi blowout preventers are expected to reduce NPT between wells, and the rigs will also feature diesel engines configured to comply with anticipated Tier III International Maritime Organization emissions standards.
Statoil contracts 3 rigs for NCS developments
Statoil and its partners have awarded contracts for the Bideford Dolphin, Stena Don and Scarabeo 5 rigs on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS). The contracts have a total value of NOK 9.17 billion, excluding potential options. The rigs will be used for production drilling for several fast-track developments, as well as drilling and completion on the Norwegian shelf.
The Bideford Dolphin rig, owned by Dolphin Drilling, will be used for production drilling on the Tordis and Vigdis fields, as well as the Statfjord field in the North Sea. The contract will run from Q1 2014 until Q1 2017.
Stena Drilling’s Stena Don rig will be used for production drilling on the Troll field, as well as the fast-track development Fram H-Nord, in the North Sea. The contract will run from Q4 2013 until Q4 2016.
Saipem’s Scarabeo 5 rig will be used for drilling and completion of production wells on various NCS fields. The contract will run from Q3 2014 until Q3 2017.
Rowan to build fourth P10,000 drillship
Rowan Companies has exercised an option to build a fourth GustoMSC P10,000 design ultra-deepwater drillship with Hyundai Heavy Industries, with delivery scheduled for March 2015. This will be the company’s fourth ultra-deepwater drillship, all of the same design. Rowan plans to equip all four drillships with 12,000 ft of riser and a second BOP stack to minimize nonproductive time.
The DP-3 compliant, dynamically positioned drillships will be equipped with retractable thrusters, dual-activity capability, five mud pumps, dual mud systems and a maximum hookload capacity of 1,250 tons. Each will also be equipped with a seven-ram BOP.
Eni discovers oil offshore Ghana, gas onshore Pakistan
Eni has made the first oil discovery in the Offshore Cape Three Points block, in the Tano Basin offshore Ghana, about 50 km off the coast. The discovery may have the potential for commercial development and confirms the importance of the block in terms of the presence of oil, as well as natural gas and condensates.
The discovery was made through the Sankofa East-1X well, which reached a total depth of 3,650 meters, in 825 meters of water, and encountered 28 meters with gas and condensate and 76 meters of gross oil pay in Cretaceous sandstones.
Eni also has made a significant gas discovery onshore Pakistan, in the Badhra Area B exploration concession, in the Khirtar Fold Belt region, 350 km north of Karachi.
The Badhra B North-1 exploratory well, which made to the discovery, was drilled to a total depth of 2,450 meters and encountered over 54 meters of net gas pay in two thick Cretaceous sandstones of the Mughal Kot Formation. The size of the discovery is estimated at between 300 and 400 Bcf of gas in place.
Ocean Rig secures contract with Repsol Sinopec Brasil
Ocean Rig has secured a contract for Ocean Rig Mylos, a seventh-generation drillship, with Repsol Sinopec Brasil. The rig is being constructed at the Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard and is scheduled for delivery in July 2013. It is the first in a series of three seventh-generation drillships Ocean Rig expects to take delivery of during the second half of 2013 from Samsung.
The contract is for a three-year period for drilling offshore Brazil.
The company also received a Letter of Intent for its semisubmersible Eirik Raude for a one-well program, with an estimated duration of up to six months, for drilling offshore Ireland. The rig is scheduled to commence the contract in Q1 2013, in direct continuation of its previous contract in West Africa.
Atwood signs 2 newbuilds, orders drillship
Atwood Oceanics has signed contracts with CEC International and Noble Energy for the newbuild Atwood Manta jackup and the Atwood Advantage drillship, respectively.
The dayrate for the Atwood Manta offshore Malaysia will be $145,000, and the award is for 12 months. The jackup is under construction with PPL Shipyard in Singapore and will have a rated water depth of 400 ft, accommodation for 150 personnel and significant offline handling features. Contract commencement is expected in December 2012.
The Atwood Advantage is a 12,000-ft water depth capable, dynamically positioned drillship under construction at Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) shipyard in South Korea. The agreement with Nobel Energy specifies an operating rate of approximately $584,000/day for a firm duration of three years, exclusive of the mobilization period from DSME to the first drilling location in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Atwood has also entered into a construction contract with DSME to construct a third ultra-deepwater drillship, to be named the Atwood Admiral. The Atwood Admiral is expected to be delivered by 31 March 2015 at a total cost, including two blowout preventers, project management, drilling and handling tools and spares, of approximately $635 million.
The design will be identical to the previously ordered Atwood Advantage and Atwood Achiever. The Atwood Admiral will also offer two seven-ram BOPs, three 100-ton knuckle boom cranes, a 165-ton active heave “tree-running” knuckle boom crane and accommodations for up to 200 persons. Upon delivery, the Atwood Admiral will become the company’s 16th drilling unit.
Shell completes Arctic tests, to begin drilling top holes
With two drillships, more than 20 support vessels, an approved capping stack and other oil spill response equipment in position, Shell has completed a series of tests of its Arctic Containment System. However, during a final test, the containment dome aboard the Arctic Challenger barge was damaged.
The time required to repair the dome, along with steps taken to protect local whaling operations and to ensure the safety of operations from ice floe movement, Shell has revised plans for the 2012 to 2013 exploration program and will forgo drilling into hydrocarbon zones this year. Instead, Shell will begin as many top holes as possible, and the wells will be capped and temporarily abandoned, in accordance with regulatory requirements.
Talisman to exit Peru, focus on oil-linked gas
Talisman Energy has decided to stop exploration activities in the Marañon Basin in northern Peru, and exit the country upon completion of ongoing commercial transactions. Talisman Peru is the operator in blocks 64 and 103 and has non-operated interests in blocks 123 and 129. Talisman has been exploring in northern Peru since 2004.
“Despite our success in finding light oil in Block 64 (Situche Central), we have been unable to build a material resource position in Peru,” Richard Herbert, executive vice president, international exploration of Talisman, said. “After careful consideration, a decision has been made to exit Peru and focus on near-term liquids and oil-linked gas opportunities in our global portfolio.”
DNV launches standard for shale gas risk management
DNV has launched a Recommended Practice (RP) for the life cycle of shale gas extraction, based on risk management principles. The objective is to form the basis for a globally recognized standard for safe and sustainable shale gas extraction.
Maersk Endurer secures contract for work in Cameroon
Maersk Drilling has signed a two-year contract with Addax Petroleum, which is owned by Sinopec, for the Maersk Endurer jackup in Cameroon.
The contract duration is two years and valued around $100 million. Expected commencement is late October.
“We are pleased to have signed this contract with a very experienced operator in West Africa, which is a priority market to us due to its significant resources and importance to the global oil and gas supply,” Martin Fruergaard, chief commercial officer in Maersk Drilling, said.
Seadrill orders new drillship with option for another
Seadrill has signed a contract to build a new ultra-deepwater drillship at the Samsung yard in South Korea. The project value of the new ultra-deepwater drillship is approximately $600 million. Delivery is scheduled for Q4 2014.
The drillship will be of the same design as the existing six drillships under construction at Samsung and will have a water-depth capacity of up to 12,000 ft, targeting operations in areas such as the US Gulf of Mexico, Brazil and West and East Africa. The unit will be outfitted with a seven-ram blowout preventer stack and with storing and handling capacity for a second BOP.
Seadrill also has agreed to a fixed-price option for an additional drillship that would be delivered in Q1 2015.
