Norwegian safety watchdog, the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA), has found three improvement points during a safety probe of Lundin’s managed pressure drilling (MPD) in the Barents Sea. To remind, Lundin received a drilling permit for the 7120/1-5 exploration well in mid-December 2016. The Barents S
Norwegian offshore drilling contractor Borr Drilling, formerly known as Magni Drilling, is planning to buy 15 jack-up drilling rigs from Swiss-based Transocean for $1.35 billion. Borr Drilling announced on Monday the signing of a letter of intent with Transocean for the acquisition of 15 high-specif
Packed full of jackup rigs which owners don’t want to take delivery of, shipyards are doing little to help their situation. They could benefit from a more commercial approach. By David Carter Shinn As we noted in our previous article, 107 jackup rigs are sitting at yards with yards and owners cont
After finding itself in dire straits, the Norwegian offshore drilling contractor Island Drilling ASA has made a decision to take on financial restructuring, which will involve a change from a public to a private company. Island Drilling was formed in 2006 by industry veterans and the well interventi
Norwegian offshore drilling company Odfjell Drilling has received a letter of intent for further employment of its semi-submersible drilling rig Deepsea Bergen for one firm high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) well off Norway. Odfjell Drilling said on Wednesday that the deal was with an undisclosed
Italian oil company Eni has completed drilling of an exploration well in the Barents Sea but found no hydrocarbons as a result. The 7183/12-2 Boné exploration well is located in license PL716 where Eni is the operator with 30% interest. The partners in the license are Faroe Petroleum (20%), Bayernga
Norwegian state-owned oil company Statoil has launched an investigation into a gas leak on the company’s Åsgard field offshore Norway. Åsgard is the Statoil-operated crude oil, condensate and gas field, located in Haltenbanken in the Norwegian Sea, around 200 kilometers off mid-Norway and 50 kilomet
Dutch design and engineering company GustoMSC has presented its latest NG series self-propelled jack-up design, the NG-5500X-LD, suitable for light drilling and well intervention in mature fields. GustoMSC said on Tuesday that the latest design was based on the NG-2500X and NG-1800X designs and that
Finland’s Wärtsilä has signed a five-year technical management and services agreement with Songa Offshore for four Cat D type semi-submersible drilling rigs operating in the North Sea. Wärtsilä said on Tuesday that the company would ensure optimal performance and maximum availability of the Wärtsilä
Offshore driller Ocean Rig has reached an agreement with the Norwegian offshore workers’ union, Industri Energi, to “clean up” the social dumping on its Leiv Eiriksson rig. To remind, Industri Energi in early February discovered social dumping on the Ocean Rig-owned semi-submersible drilling rig Lei
Drilling contractor Paragon Offshore has been awarded a contract for a jack-up rig in the UK sector of the North Sea and decided to scrap one semi-submersible rig. In its latest fleet status report issued on Friday, March 10 the driller said the jack-up rig B391 has been awarded a subsea plug and ab
Norwegian oil company Statoil has completed the drilling of wildcat well 6507/3-12 and appraisal well 6507/3-12 A, offshore Norway. The wells proved gas. The wells were drilled about six kilometers east of the Alve field in the northern part of the Norwegian Sea and about 200 kilometers west of Sand
While delivery dates for the 107 jackups under construction get pushed back toward 2020, the path to achieving deliveries couldn’t be more obstructive. By David Carter Shinn Last week, COSCO Shipyard announced that it “sees no notable upturn in the global market any time soon” and will close three
UK-based offshore drilling contractor Awilco Drilling has resolved its dispute with Apache North Sea over standby revenue billing for the drilling rig WilPhoenix. WilPhoenix is one of Awilco Drilling’s two enhanced pacesetter semi-submersibles. The 1982-built rig is equipped for drilling in water de
