Nexen extends GSF Galaxy III contract

International drilling contractor Transocean has received a contract extension for its GSF Galaxy III jack-up rig.

The rig’s contract has been extended for two and a half months by the oil and gas company Nexen at a dayrate of $180,000 ($14 million estimated backlog), starting from May 2014. The rig’s prior dayrate was $226,000.

Nexen is using the GSF Galaxy III jack-up rig as an accommodation unit at the Buzzard field in the U.K. sector of the North Sea.

Buzzard was discovered in 2001 and came on stream in early 2007. The Buzzard field is located about 60 miles northeast of Aberdeen in the Outer Moray Firth, central North Sea, in 317 feet of water.