Aker BP to use Deepsea Nordkapp rig to plug Jette wells

Norwegian oil and gas company Aker BP has been given consent by Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) to use the Deepsea Nordkapp drilling rig to plug production wells on the Jette field offshore Norway.

The consent covers permanent plugging of two production wells on the Jette field in the North Sea, the safety authority said on Tuesday.

The PSA added that the work is scheduled to begin in May 2019 and is expected to last for 57 days.

The Deepsea Nordkapp is a semi-submersible drilling rig of the Moss Maritime CS 60E type, owned and operated by Odfjell Drilling. It was issued with Acknowledgement of Compliance (AoC) by the PSA in April 2019.

The rig was named in South Korea in October 2018 and delivered to its owner Odfjell Drilling in January 2019.

Aker BP awarded a two-year firm drilling contract with 1+1 year optional periods to Deepsea Nordkapp even before it was delivered, back in April 2018.

In addition to its contract with Aker BP, the semi-sub will also work on the Draugen field for OKEA, which is subleasing the rig from Aker BP. Drilling operations on the Draugen field are expected to start in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Furthermore, the Deepsea Nordkapp will be used by Polish oil company PGNiG to drill the company’s first operated exploration well on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

Namely, PGNiG in March signed an agreement with Aker BP for the lease of the Odfjell Deepsea Norkapp for the drilling on the Shrek prospect within the PGNiG operated PL838 license in the Norwegian Sea.

As for the Jette field, Aker BP – then named Det norske – decided to decommission the field back in 2016, only three years after bringing it to production as a consequence of the decision in the Jotun License to shut down the Jotun production.

Namely, the Jette field had been developed with a subsea installation tied back to ExxonMobil’s Jotun B wellhead platform and Exxon deciced to shut down Jotun back in 2016 with plans to get rid of the field installations.

Jette production finished in December 2016. Aker BP then in June 2018 received approval from the Norwegian authorities to remove the subsea facilities from the Jette field. The work of removing the facilities on the Jette field started start in 2018. It will continue in 2019 and 2020, after the wells have been permanently plugged.

Offshore Energy Today Staff

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