Fresh UK gig for Stena Drilling rig

Offshore drilling contractor Stena Drilling has secured a new contract for a semi-submersible rig with Ithaca Energy for operations off the UK.

Stena revealed on Friday, 3 February 2023, that a contract was signed with Ithaca Energy for its Stena Spey drilling rig. The operations for the rig on the UKCS are due to start between 1 June 2023 and 1 September 2023. This deal is for a firm scope of one well.

“Stena Drilling are delighted to secure work with Ithaca Energy and look forward to completing a safe and efficient campaign,” explained the offshore drilling contractor in its statement.

The 1983-built Stena Spey is a Friede & Goldman L907 (enhanced Pacesetter) twin pontoon, column-stabilised, semi-submersible offshore drilling rig. This rig is capable of drilling in water depths up to 1,500 ft. It can accommodate 120 people and its maximum drilling depth is 25,000 ft.

Back in February 2022, this rig won a contract with TotalEnergies for operations in the UK, which were scheduled to begin between 16 March 2022 and 15 April 2022, with an estimated total scope duration of 120 days.

Prior to this, the Stena Spey rig was used for the decommissioning campaign of the Kinsale area gas fields located off Ireland. The campaign, which started in mid-April 2021 following the arrival of the rig, was expected to run through to November 2021.