Offshore staff

STAVANGER, Norway – Statoil (OSE:STL;NYSE:STO) has awarded Maersk Drilling a $605-million charter contract for a new jackup, to be built by Keppel FELS in Singapore.

The jackup rig will drill development wells on the Dagny oil and gas field in 120 m (393 ft) water depth in the Norwegian North Sea. Dagny and its planned satellite tie-in Eirin are among Statoil’s major pending developments. The fields hold an estimated 300 MMboe of oil and gas.

Earlier this year, Statoil and its partners chose a fixed processing platform concept, with the gas sent to the Sleipner field complex and the oil transported by tankers.

However, quality assurance continues via various front-end design studies before a final investment decision can be taken. This is due around the turn of the year, leading to a production start by end-2016.

This will be the third Gusto MSC CJ70 jackup under construction by Keppel FELS for Maersk Drilling, following an order for two similar rigs in February 2011. Maersk also has an option to order an additional jackup of the same design from the yard. The CJ70 design is for harsh environment North Sea operations in water depths of up to 150 m (492 ft). Features include offline pipe handling and simultaneous operations, and an enlarged cantilever reach, claimed to provide increased drilling efficiency. Up to 150 personnel can be accommodated onboard in single cabins.

Maersk’s contract on Dagny runs for four years with two one-year options.

Production drilling should start in summer of 2015 with pre-drilling through the jacket, prior to set down of the platform deck the following summer of 2016, in order to accelerate production.

Dagny and Eirin will also take up available capacity on Sleipner, 30 km (18.6 mi) to the south for several years, according to Ivar Aasheim, Statoil senior VP for NCS field development.

Statoil anticipates total investments of NOK 25-30 billion ($4.1-4.9 billion) for Dagny and Eirin.

6/01/2012