Det norske to use ‘Transocean Winner’ on Alvheim, Bøyla

The Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) Norway has given Det norske oljeselskap ASA consent to use the Transocean Winner semi-submersible drilling rig for production drilling at Alvheim and Bøyla in the North Sea, offshore Norway.

The background to this consent is Det norske‘s acquisition of Marathon Oil Norge AS  and the company’s production licence assets on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Marathon’s operatorship of the Alvheim, Vilje, Volund and Bøyla fields will now be transferred to Det norske.

The date of transfer of operatorship is set at 15 October 2014.

The consent applies to production drilling and completion of 25/4-L-4H at the Alvheim field and 24/9-M-1 H, 24/9-M-1 AH, 24/9-M-2 H, 24/9-M-2 AH, 24/9-M-3 H and 24/9-M-3 AH at Bøyla.

New operator, new consent

Marathon has previously received consent to use Transocean Winner for drilling and completion of these wells/well bores, but a change of operator requires the new operator to apply for new consent. This is because consent is an expression of the PSA’s confidence that the operating company is able to undertake operations prudently and in compliance with the regulations, the PSA said. The consent is based primarily on PSA’s assessment of relevant aspects of the company’s management system.

Transocean Winner is a semi-submersible drilling rig of the GVA-4000 design, built in 1983 at Götaverken Arendal (GVA) in Gothenburg in Sweden.

The facility of owned by Transocean Offshore, and operated by Transocean Offshore (North Sea) Ltd, whose head office is in Stavanger.

Transocean Winner received the PSA’s Acknowledgement of Compliance (AoC) in August 2006.