Five-year gig for Constellation’s three rigs takes Norwegian firm to Brazil

Norwegian full-service offshore and onshore drilling equipment player HMH has entered into a long-term contractual services agreement (CSA) with Constellation Oil Services, a Brazilian drilling contractor. This enables HMH to provide integrated maintenance support for the blowout preventers (BOPs) of three ultra-deepwater semi-submersible drilling rigs offshore Brazil.

The five-year deal with the option for extension, inked between Constellation and HMH, aims to improve the operational efficiency of the Alpha Star, Gold Star, and Lone Star semi-submersible drilling rigs. The duo claims that this partnership model is unprecedented in Brazil, thus, part of its remuneration is conditioned on performance in a risk-sharing model.

Rodrigo Ribeiro, Constellation’s Chief Executive, commented: “The contract will bring more reliability to one of the rig’s most critical equipment, more process safety for well control, increased uptime and operational efficiency, as well as new business opportunities for the company.”

Constellation, which will be able to focus on drilling operations, will share responsibility for maintaining the rigs’ BOPs, together with HMH. The agreement encompasses parts supply, predictive and preventative maintenance, optimization of time-based maintenance using data from equipment, between-well maintenance, continued certification, and 24/7 engineering support from the HMH team on board Constellation rigs.

Chuck Chauviere, President of HMH’s Pressure Control Systems division, underlined: “As part of the partnership with Constellation, we will implement a condition-based maintenance program, optimizing maintenance intervals and improving operational performance. This comprehensive approach will ensure that BOPs are in a ‘ready to operate’ condition.”

As BOP maintenance is one of the main contributors to uptime in drilling and well intervention campaigns, this change in the paradigm of equipment maintenance and asset management is expected to enable drilling units to be available to customers for longer periods.

The 2011-built Alpha Star is an ultra-deepwater DP semi-submersible drilling rig, which was delivered from the Keppel FELS shipyard and features a range of TSC products including, drill floor tools, winches, and deck cranes. Equipped to operate in the pre-salt, the rig is capable of drilling in water depths of up to 9,000 feet and has a drilling depth capacity of up to 30,000 feet.

Constellation’s Gold Star is an ultra-deepwater DP semi-submersible drilling rig that started its operations in February 2010. With a drilling depth capacity of up to 30,000 feet, the rig is capable of drilling in water depths of up to 9,000 feet and is also equipped to operate in the pre-salt.

Another ultra-deepwater DP semi-submersible drilling rig that is equipped to operate in the pre-salt is Lone Star, which is capable of drilling in water depths of up to 7,900 feet. The 2011-built rig comes with a drilling depth capacity of up to 30,000 feet.

Currently, Constellation’s offshore fleet consists of eight rigs: two semi-submersible moored to operate in water depths up to 1,100 meters, three dynamic positioning rigs for operation in water depths up to 2,700 meters, and three drillships for operation in water depths up to 3,000 meters.