OMV hires Maersk Drilling rig to drill well offshore Norway

Austrian oil and gas company OMV has hired a Maersk Drilling jack-up drilling rig to drill an exploration well offshore Norway.

Maersk Drilling said on Monday that OMV would use the Maersk Integrator jack-up rig to drill one exploration well in the Ommadawn prospect in the production license 970 in the Norwegian part of the North Sea.

According to the offshore driller, the contract is expected to start in mid-2021 with an estimated duration of 52 days.

The firm contract is valued at around $14.3 million, including mobilization, but excluding integrated services provided and potential performance bonuses. Maersk added that the contract also includes an option to add some 28 days of well testing.

The Maersk Integrator jack-up is currently undergoing a series of upgrades to combine the use of hybrid power with low levels of NOx emissions, adding data intelligence to further reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions.

The oil and gas company stated that performance bonus schemes included in the contract with OMV were based on rewarding reduced fuel consumption and reduced NOx emissions during the drilling operations.

Morten Kelstrup, COO of Maersk Drilling, said: “We’re pleased to add this additional work scope for Maersk Integrator in 2021 and to enter into a new type of collaborative contractual set-up with OMV where we will focus on aligning incentives in the planning and execution of the drilling operation which again is expected to significantly reduce the uncertainty about overall well construction costs for our customer.

“We believe this kind of commercial model has the potential to increase exploration drilling activity in Norway and across the North Sea. The contract further shows the commercial value of our low-emission upgrades.

“By reducing fuel consumption, CO2 emissions and NOx emissions we are not only making contributions towards reaching emission targets but also create value for our customer under the incentive schemes established in Norway“.

As for the rig, the Maersk Integrator is an ultra-harsh environment CJ70 XLE jack-up rig, designed for year-round operations in the North Sea. It was delivered in 2015.

Last week, MOL was given a drilling permit to use the Maersk Integrator drilling rig in production licence 617 after the rig concludes drilling of production well for Aker BP on the Ivar Aasen field.