Maersk extends North Sea drilling link with Plexus

Feb. 13, 2013
Maersk Oil North Sea UK has exercised two one-year extension options with Plexus Holdings.

Offshore staff

LONDON – Maersk Oil North Sea UK has exercised two one-year extension options with Plexus Holdings.

These concern supply of high-pressure/high-temperature (HP/HT) POS-GRIP wellhead technology, casing support, and mudline suspension services for an exploration drilling program in the North Sea.

Under theoriginal contract, Plexus supplied Maersk with a POS-GRIP, HP/HT 18¾-in. single stack wellhead on a rig equipped with a BOP for use on three wells. The extension applies initially to one exploration well in the UK central North Sea, using Plexus’ HP/HT 18¾-in. 15,000-psi (1,034-bar) Thru’ Rotary Surface Wellhead system, and runs through end-2014.

In the Norwegian Sea, Maersk Oil is P&A’ing as a dry hole its 6506/6-2 exploration well on theAlbert prospect. The well, drilled on license PL 513 in the Norwegian Sea, targeted hydrocarbons in the Lower Cretaceous Lysing formation.

“We will now analyze the data from the well and review our exploration strategy for the Norwegian Sea in light of the results,” said Morten Jeppesen, managing director of Maersk Oil in Norway. This was the first well on the license, awarded under Norway’s APA licensing round in 2008.

Statoil, too, has drilled a dry hole on its latest wildcat, 9 km (5.6 mi) northeast of theGrane field in the Norwegian North Sea. There was no reservoir development in either of the targeted Eocene Balder or Upper Jurassic Draupne formations.

The semisubmersibleOcean Vanguard, which performed the operation, will next drill appraisal well 16/5-3 for Statoil in license 502 on the Johan Sverdrup discovery.

2/13/2013