Equinor in another ‘Safe Boreas’ extension at Mariner field

Norwegian oil firm Equinor has extended the contract with Prosafe for the use of the Safe Boreas offshore accommodation rig in the UK North Sea. Equinor is using the rig to support its Mariner development.

According to the owner of the flotel, the Safe Boreas will stay with Equinor for eight more months, from November 2018 until June 2019. In addition, Equinor has up to six months of extension options available. The total value of the extension starting November 2018 is approximately $45 million.

Jesper Kragh Andresen, CEO of Prosafe says: “This contract extension demonstrates the good performance Prosafe and the Safe Boreas has achieved to support the Mariner hook up and commissioning project. The Safe Boreas with its large bed capacity and advanced station keeping will continue providing a high level of service throughout the remainder of the contract.”

To remind, Equinor in August exercised the second of six one-month options to extend the charter of the Safe Boreas for a total value of the option of $6 million.

The Safe Boreas started a 13-month firm operational period at Mariner in the UK sector of the North Sea in early August 2017.

Equinor is using the unit to support the hook-up and commissioning work at the Mariner field, dubbed one of the largest upstream investments in the UK in the last 10 years.

Discovered in 1981 on the East Shetland Platform, approximately 150 kilometers east of the Shetland Islands, the Mariner is a heavy oil field characterized by dense, viscous oil.

Development includes a production, drilling and quarters (PDQ) platform based on a steel jacket, Mariner A, with a floating storage unit (FSU), Mariner B. Drilling will be carried out from the Mariner A drilling rig, with a jack-up rig assisting for the first 4 years.

The development of the Mariner field will contribute more than 250 mmbbls reserves with average plateau production of around 55,000 barrels per day. Production is expected to start in late 2018.