Spirit gets nod to use Maersk jack-up for Oda production wells

Exploration & Production

E&P company Spirit Energy has received consent from Norway’s Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) to use the Maersk Interceptor rig on the Oda field offshore Norway. 

Spirit Energy, formed through combination of Centrica’s E&P business with Bayerngas Norge, is the operator of the Oda field, which is its first development project on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

The offshore safety watchdog informed on Wednesday that Spirit Energy had received the consent to use the Maersk Interceptor jack-up rig to drill production wells on the Oda field.

The consent covers drilling of wells 8/10-B-1 H, 8/10-B-2 H and 8/10-B-3 H. Water depth at the site is 66 meters.

Oda belongs to production license 405, and is currently in development. Oda’s plan for development and operations was submitted to Norwegian authorities in November 2016 and approved in May 2017.

The field is in the southern part of the Norwegian sector of the North Sea, ten kilometers east of Ula. It is being developed using a subsea template with two production wells tied back to the Ula field and an injection well for pressure support.

According to the safety agency, the drilling operations are scheduled to begin on April 15, 2018, and estimated to last 226 days in total.

Maersk Interceptor is a jack-up drilling rig, delivered by the Keppel Shipyard in Singapore in 2014. Owned and operated by Maersk Drilling Norge, the rig received Acknowledgement of Compliance (AoC) from the PSA in December 2014.

It is worth reminding that Spirit Energy has recently passed the offshore safety audit of its project management for the development of the Oda field with flying colors. Namely, the audit identified no regulatory non-conformities nor improvement points.

Offshore Energy Today Staff