UMW secures drilling contract for jack-up rig in Malaysia

Malaysian drilling contractor UMW Offshore Drilling has secured a drilling contract for one of its jack-up rigs.

Namely, the company’s Naga 2 jack-up drilling unit will work for Australian oil company Octanex, drilling development wells at the Ophir field, off Malaysia.

The announcement on the contract was revealed by Octanex on Monday, which said that UMW had won the contract following a successful tender.

The Naga 2 will be deployed at the Ophir field in the second quarter of 2017, where it will drill three production wells.

Octanex COO Rae Clark said that the award of the drilling contract locks in significant cost savings for the Ophir project. He did not reveal the financial details of the agreement.

The field is located offshore the Peninsular Malaysia, being developed under a risk service contract granted in 2014 to Ophir Production company, in which Octanex owns a 50 percent stake. The field is being developed via three production vessel, a wellhead platform and a leased FPSO unit.