On a mission to curb rig emissions, Diamond Offshore joins forces with Norwegian firm

In a bid to reduce the carbon footprint of its rig fleet and improve energy efficiency, Diamond Offshore, an offshore drilling contractor, has teamed up with Norway’s Stepwise, a technology-enabled service driving systematic decarbonisation of heavy industry with an initial focus on the offshore energy segment.

Stepwise disclosed recently that it had secured work with Diamond Offshore Drilling to help further reduce rig emissions and support the offshore drilling contractor’s efforts to reduce its carbon footprint.

Matthew Johan, Executive Director of Stepwise, remarked: “We’re excited to be working with Diamond and we look forward to helping them on their journey towards more sustainable energy extraction.”

The Norwegian player said that it would focus on energy and operational efficiency improvements by establishing baseline reporting metrics and implementing an energy management plan on several of Diamond Offshore’s rigs, globally.

The company intends to start with the Ocean GreatWhite, Ocean BlackHornet, and Ocean BlackLion rigs in the first quarter of 2023. According to Stepwise, it will drive continuous energy reductions through planning, monitoring, reporting and emission reduction within its SaaS application.

Regarding the Ocean GreatWhite sixth-generation semi-submersible drilling rig, which is considered to be the world’s largest rig of its type, it reached the Kishorn Port in the UK in October 2022 for its second visit to KPL, following a ten-week stay in early 2019.

The giant rig was stacked prior to getting hired by BP for a drilling assignment in the North Sea, which is expected to start in 1Q 2023 and take 300 days. Suitable for operations in harsh environments, the rig is of a MOSS CS60E design. 

When it comes to the Ocean BlackHornet drillship, the rig secured a two-year extension last year with its current client, BP, in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico in direct continuation of the rig’s current term. The two-year extension will keep the rig working until early 2025. The total contract value for the extension is approximately $290 million. In addition, the Ocean BlackLion drillship is also working for BP in the Gulf of Mexico.

‍For its part, Diamond Offshore is committed to reducing its environmental impact and believes this alliance will be instrumental in achieving that goal.

Craig Colby, Sustainability Officer of Diamond, commented: “Stepwise has the expertise and workflow that will help us with our reduction efforts.”