Petronas books Maersk drillship for Gabon well

Offshore rig owner Maersk Drilling has been awarded a one-well contract from PC Gabon Upstream S.A. (PCGUSA), a subsidiary of Petronas, for the provision of a deepwater drillship.

The 7th generation drillship Maersk Viking will be employed to drill an ultra-deepwater exploration well at approximately 2,100 m water depth in Block F13 offshore Gabon, the rig owner said on Friday.

The firm one-well contract with PCGUSA is expected to start in 3Q 2021, in direct continuation of the rig’s previous work scope with Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC), with an estimated duration of 60 days.

The firm contract value is approximately $24 million, including mobilisation and demobilisation fees.

The contract with KNOC was awarded in February 2021 and it is expected to start in June 2021.

“We’re delighted to expand our international relationship with Petronas, with whom we have worked on deepwater wells in the Far East, the Americas and now West Africa. We’re looking forward to conducting our first-ever campaign in Gabon”, said Morten Kelstrup, COO of Maersk Drilling.

Maersk Viking is a high-spec ultra-deepwater drillship that was delivered in 2013. It is currently operating offshore Brunei Darussalam for Shell.

The drillship was first awarded a one-well contract from Shell to drill one deepwater exploration well offshore Brunei Darussalam in November 2020 only to be awarded a one-well contract extension, also in Brunei, less than a week after the first contract.

Following the completion of the contract with PCGUSA, the rig will move on to start the previously announced four-well contract with Shell Malaysia.

Namely, Shell in April 2021 awarded a contract to the Maersk Viking drillship to drill four development wells at the Gumusut-Kakap project offshore Malaysia.

The contract is expected to start in December 2021, with an estimated duration of 150 days. The firm contract value is approximately $34 million, including a mobilisation fee.