PHOTO: Saipem’s semi-sub Scarabeo 8 in yard stay

Saipem’s 6th generation, semi-submersible, drilling rig Scarabeo 8 is now staying at Westcon’s yard in Olen, Norway. 

The rig arrived at Westcon for classing activities and, according to Westcon, it will stay there until the end of the year.

The semi-sub is under a contract with the Italian oil company Eni. In May this year, the oil company received consent from the Petroleum Safety Authority in Norway to use the rig to drill an exploration well in block 7222 in the Barents Sea in a prospect named Aurelia.

The rig recently completed drilling operations in the Barents Sea and the wildcat 7222/1-1 (Aurelia) was drilled to a vertical depth of 2,366 meters below sea level and reached total depth in the Permian Røye Formation. The well was dry.

Offshore.no, a Norwegian news website, recently said the rig had been suspended for five months for an equipment dismantling that will last for a month, after which it will go on a suspension rate for three months followed by another month  when the overhauled equipment will be put back.

This comes only two months after Eni extended the contract for the rig up to October 2017.

Owned by the Italian oilfield services provider Saipem, Scarabeo 8 is a semi-sub rig of Moss CS 50 MkII design. It was built at the Fincantieri Shipyard in Palermo, Italy and completed at the Westcon Yard in Ølensvåg in Hordaland county in 2011.

The rig is winterized and designed for working at water depths between 70 and 3050 meters.

Offshore Energy Today Staff