CHC heli to support Faroe’s Brasse drilling program

Offshore helicopter transportation services provider CHC Group has been awarded a new contract with Faroe Petroleum to provide helicopter services during exploration drilling at the Brasse field in the North Sea.

According to CHC, the operation will begin in summer 2017 using the Sikorsky S-92 helicopter which registered more than one million fleet hours of service in 2016.

Bergens Tidende, a Norwegian news provider focusing on Bergen area, said back in January that the company’s Bergen base was supposed to close down after CHC lost a contract with Norwegian oil company Statoil. However, the timing of the reported shut down was unclear.

Contrary to those reports, CHC said on Tuesday that the helicopters involved in the Faroe deal would be flying from the Bergen base.

Arne Roland, CHC Regional Director for Nordic Countries, Eastern Europe, Caspian and Canada (NECC), said: “We are excited to work with Faroe Petroleum as their aviation partner in this project.

“This project allows us to continue to build on our decades of experience supporting oil and gas customers in the Norwegian Continental Shelf as we continue to evolve our services and technology to best meet their needs.”

As far as Faroe Petroleum’s ops are concerned, the Brasse drilling program is expected to last for an initial period of approximately 70 days, and the contract includes an option to extend CHC’s services beyond this initial period.

During the drilling program, Faroe as the operator will use Odfjell Drilling’s semi-submersible drilling rig Deepsea Bergen for drilling an appraisal well at the Brasse discovery.

Karl Fessenden, President and CEO of CHC Helicopter, added: “CHC is proud to continue a safe and reliable transportation offering to customers in and around the North Sea. We look forward to helping Faroe Petroleum meet their transportation needs throughout this project and are eager to start flying on their behalf upon project commencement later this year.”

In related news, CHC Group at the end of March concluded its financial restructuring and emerged from Chapter 11 as its court-confirmed plan of reorganization went into effect on March 24, 2017.

Offshore Energy Today Staff