BP has awarded Parker Drilling an initial two-year operations and maintenance (O&M) contract for a land-based rig designed to drill (ultra-extended-reach wells to offshore targets) in the Liberty field from the North Slope.
Offshore staff
HOUSTON – BP has awarded Parker Drilling an initial two-year operations and maintenance (O&M) contract for a land-based rig designed to drill (ultra-extended-reach wells to offshore targets) in the Liberty field from the North Slope.
The contract marks the third phase of Parker Drilling’s participation in the Liberty field development. Phase one consisted of a technical service project to provide a conceptual design for the purpose-built rig; phase two involved a construction and commissioning contract.
Work under the O&M contract has already begun. The Liberty rig arrived at the drilling site in July after being transported via barge.
The rig's ultra-extended-reach wells, guided by 3D seismic imagery, will extend nearly 2-mi (3.2-km) deep and as far as 8 mi (13 km) out. Some will have measured depths exceeding the current record of over 7.5 mi (12 km), the company says.
