Dolphin Drilling’s 1990-built rig moves to P&A ops in North Sea

Norway-headquartered offshore drilling contractor Dolphin Drilling has confirmed that its 35-year-old semi-submersible rig is now focused on its plug and abandonment (P&A) mission in the UK sector of the North Sea.

According to the Norwegian firm, the Paul B. Loyd Jr. (PBLJ) rig, which completed operations at Harbour Energy‘s Brodgar well, delivered two appraisal wells, a development well, and a completion at 98% rig-related uptime.

The semi-submersible is now moored up at the Caledonia field in the UK North Sea, where it will undertake a permanent plug and abandonment operation. The rig owner underlines that Harbour has the rig firmly committed through to February 2028, with another five one-year extension options at the firm’s disposal.

This announcement comes shortly after Dolphin Drilling entered into an amendment agreement for its existing $65 million facility deal dated December 22, 2023, with security, inter alia, over the Paul B. Lloyd Jr. rig, providing for amortization relief of the installments payable for the three months from April to June 2025.

The semi-sub, which entered service in 1990, was built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea. The rig joined Dolphin’s fleet in 2024, after leaving Transocean’s rig fleet.

Featuring an enhanced Aker H-4.2 design, the mid-water harsh-environment rig is capable of operating at a maximum water depth of 600 meters.