Maersk Drilling secures more rig work with Total

Offshore driller Maersk Drilling has been awarded a contract extension for the jack-up rig Maersk Intrepid by Total in Norway.

The rig has been on contract for Total on the Martin Linge field in the Norwegian part of the North Sea since 2014 and this contract has now been extended for another firm 196 days with options for additional 61 days, the driller informed on Tuesday.

The contract extension will start in September 2018 in direct continuation of the current contract and covers accommodation work for hook-up and commissioning of the Martin Linge production topside as well as potential drilling operations.

Lars Østergaard, Chief Commercial Officer of Maersk Drilling said: “It is very rewarding that we are able to secure an extension of a long term contract in a strategically important market.”

He added: “With this extension we are securing work for the rig all the way to Q2 2019.”

The Martin Linge oil and gas field is located in the North Sea approximately 180 kilometers west of Bergen. The field’s development plan includes integrated wellhead, production, and accommodation platform with a jacket, in addition to a floating, storage and offloading (FSO) vessel used for oil storage.

The jacket substructure is already installed on location in the North Sea, while the topside is being completed at the Samsung yard in South-Korea and will be transported to Norway in early 2018. The project has experienced schedule delays and cost increases due to delayed topside engineering, construction and currency impact.

The project was also hit by a fatal accident at the Korean yard in May 2017, when six people died, forcing Total to delay production start for the first half of 2019.

Offshore Energy Today Staff