DRILLING & COMPLETION NEWS • DEPARTMENTS
$12.7 billion Uaru development in Guyana with 10 drill centers, 44 wells gets green light
Hess Corp and ExxonMobil have made
a final investment decision to proceed
with Uaru, the fifth development on the
Stabroek Block in Guyana, after receiv-
ing government and regulatory approvals.
Uaru will have a production capacity of
approximately 250,000 gross bbl/day of oil ,
with production targeted to start in 2026.
The $12.7 billion Uaru development will
target an estimated resource base of more
than 800 million bbl of oil and include up
to 10 drill centers and 44 production and
injection wells. MODEC is constructing the
floating production, storage and offload-
ing (FPSO) vessel for Uaru, which will be
called Errea Wittu .
Guyana's Liza Phases 1 and 2 production
average d 375,000 gross bbl/day in Q1. The
third and fourth sanctioned developments ,
Payara and Yellowtail, are targeted for
startup in Q4 and in 2025, respectively . A
sixth development, Whiptail, is expected to
be submitted for government and regula-
tory approval later this year.
ADNOC Drilling to add 2 jackups to its
fleet as part of continued expansion
Equinor is planning to drill 10 new wells on the upgraded Njord .
Image source: Even Kleppa and Lizette Bertelsen/Equinor.
Equinor aims to double field life and
production from reinvigorated Njord field
The Njord field in the Norwegian Sea was officially reopened
on 15 May after extensive upgrades were made to the platform
and floating storage and offloading vessel (FSO) to double the
field's life – and more than double its production.
The Njord field started production in 1997 and was originally
supposed to produce until 2013. However, systematic work with
increased recovery means that there are still large volumes of oil
and gas left. New discoveries in the area can also be produced and
exported via Njord.
In 2016, the platform and FSO were disconnected from the field
and towed to shore for upgrades. On 27 December 2022, produc-
tion resumed from the Njord field.
“This is the first time a platform and an FSO have been discon-
nected from the field, upgraded and towed back offshore. We have
now doubled the field life,” said Grete B. Haaland, Equinor Senior
Vice President for Exploration and Production North.
Equinor says it aims to produce approximately the same vol-
ume from Njord as the company has already produced so far,
around 250 million BOE. Ten new wells will be drilled on Njord
from an upgraded drilling facility, and more exploration will be
carried out close to the field.
In addition, two new subsea fields have already been tied back
to Njord. Combined recoverable volumes from the Bauge and
Fenja fields, which both started production in April, are 110 mil-
lion BOE.
ADNOC Drilling has signed an agreement to acquire two
premium high-specification Gusto MSC CJ46 design jackups .
The rigs will be delivered into Abu Dhabi waters and become
operational during Q4 .
With this $220 million combined rig acquisition, the com-
pany will have almost doubled its jackup fleet since early 2021,
and further significant expansion is still expected from now
until the end of 2024. ADNOC Drilling's overall rig fleet has
grown from 95 in October 2021 to 115 as of 31 March.
"The acquisition of these premium jackup rigs will sup-
port one of our major customers, ADNOC Offshore, with its
drilling and completion services requirements, as it delivers
accelerated production capacity," said Abdulrahman Abdulla
Al Seiari, Chief Executive Officer of ADNOC Drilling. " These
rigs further cement our position as one of the world’s largest
offshore jackup rig fleet owners and supports our plan to grow
our overall fleet to 142 owned rigs by 2024.”
Multiple new contracts announced
for offshore rigs from Shelf, Odfjell, Stena
■ Shelf Drilling has secured a contract for the Shelf Drilling
Barsk jackup with Equinor for operations at the Sleipner Vest
field, located on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The firm
term of the contract is two wells, approximating to 270 days.
The contract value for the firm period, excluding certain inte-
grated services, is approximately $61 million. The contract
also includes options for two additional wells, and the planned
startup of operations is between May and July 2024.
■ Separately, Shelf also secured a short-term contract for the
Adriatic I jackup for operations offshore Nigeria, with a firm
term of 90 days and an estimated contract value of $11 million,
excluding revenues for mobilization and demobilization. The
contract is scheduled to start in early May 2023
■ DNO Norge, Aker BP and Longboat Energy have contracted
Odfjell Drilling's Deepsea Yantai semisubmersible to drill
the Lotus (Kjøttkake) exploration well in Norway. Drilling is
expected to commence in Q3 2024 . Licence PL1182S lies in
the prolific Northern North Sea, 4 km southeast of the recent
Kveikje discovery .
■ Shell has contracted Stena Drilling's Stena Evolution drill-
ship to operate in the US Gulf of Mexico starting in Q2 2024 for
a primary term of five years .
D R I L L I N G C O N T R AC T O R • J U LY/AU G U ST 2023
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