Oil company Aker BP has received consent from the Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) to use the Maersk Invincible jack-up rig for plugging wells at the Valhall field in the North Sea.
The offshore safety watchdog said on Monday that the consent applies to the use of Maersk Invincible for permanent plugging of wells drilled from the drilling platform at the field.
The Valhall field has been developed using six fixed steel-jacketed platforms with bridge connections. The field has been producing since 1982.
Production from Valhall DP is scheduled to end in the next few years. Three of the wells are still in production, while 18 have been shut down. Of these, 13 have been permanently plugged and abandoned, and Maersk Invincible will be used for plugging the other five.
Maersk Invincible is a jack-up drilling rig owned by Maersk Drilling, Denmark. It was delivered by the Daewoo yard in South Korea in 2016, is classified by DNV GL and registered in Singapore.
Maersk Invincible received an Acknowledgement of Compliance (AoC) from the PSA in April 2017.