South Korea’s POSCO hires Maersk drillship for Myanmar drilling

Danish offshore drilling company Maersk Drilling has secured a three-well drillship contract offshore Myanmar with the Korean oil company POSCO International Corporation.

Maersk Viking / Image source: Maersk Drilling
Maersk Viking / Image source: Maersk Drilling

Maersk Drilling said on Friday that the drilling contract was for the Maersk Viking drillship. The contract is expected to start et 2019 end.  According to the drilling company, the 154-day contract is valued $33 million, including a mobilization fee. POSCO will have an option to extend the contract for one more well.

The Maersk Viking is a 7th generation ultra-deepwater drillship delivered in 2013. Maersk Viking recently completed a drilling campaign for Aker Energy in Ghana where it struck oil at the Deepwater Tano Cape Three Points block. According to Maersk Drilling, the Ghana campaign included a well drilled at an ultra-deepwater depth of 10,125 ft.

Commenting on the POSCO deal, Morten Kelstrup, COO of Maersk Drilling said: “We are very excited about having the opportunity to work together with the POSCO International Corporation and helping them achieve their goals. This campaign will enable us to showcase the nimbleness of our deepwater fleet, including the ability to move our floaters from one region to another and quickly start up new operations. We look forward to demonstrating the capabilities of our 7th generation drillships in the Asian-Pacific market.”

In related news, POSCO International, formerly known as POSCO Daewoo, has recently awarded the front end engineering design (FEED) contract for the Shwe Phase 3 gas field development, located offshore Myanmar.

DORIS Engineering in Paris, as HHI sub-contractor, has started the Phase 3 FEED Design Competition whose scope includes a new LP Compression Platform bridge-connected to the existing SHP (Drilling, Central Production & Accommodation Platform).

Earlier, in September, McDermott also received a front-end engineering design (FEED) contract for the Shwe Phase 3 gas field development in late September.

The contract is for the FEED services for a new compression platform, a bridge link, and modifications in the existing platform at the Shwe field.


Offshore Energy Today Staff

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