Brazil: Statoil hires two platform suppliers for Carcara work

Statoil Brasil Óleo e Gás Ltda., Statoil’s Brazilian subsidiary, has awarded contracts to a pair of Solstad Farstad’s platform supply vessels for operations off Brazil.

Statoil said on Wednesday that it awarded Solstad Farstad with deals for the 2012-built Far Scotsman and the eight-year-old Far Serenade.

The six-month firm deals for the two vessels will see them provide support for exploratory drilling at the Carcara field in the BM-S-8 license, located in the Santos basin.

The beginning of the contract is expected to take place during the fourth quarter of 2017. Statoil also has the option to extend the contract with further nine three-month periods.

As far as the Carcara field and the BM-S-8 license go, Statoil took over operatorship of the BM-S-8 license from Petrobras for $2.5 billion in November 2016.

In late October 2017, U.S. oil firm ExxonMobil decided to acquire half of Statoil’s 66 percent interest in the BM-S-8 block for a total potential consideration of around $1.3 billion. The transaction is subject to government approvals and is expected to close in 2018.

Following the close of the transaction, partner interests in the BM-S-8 block will be 33 percent for Statoil, 33 percent for ExxonMobil, 14 percent for Petrogal Brasil, and 10 percent each for QGEP and Barra.

The Carcara field was discovered in 2012, on the geological trend of the nearby Lula field and Libra area. The field contains an estimated recoverable resource of 2 billion barrels of high-quality oil. The BM-S-8 block is located approximately 200 miles offshore Rio de Janeiro.

Offshore Energy Today Staff