Statoil agrees to charter two new drilling rigs

Offshore staff

STAVANGER, Norway --Statoil signed agreements with Aker Drilling and Odfjell Invest to charter a new drilling rig from each to operate in alten/Nordland of the Norwegian Sea and Tampen in the North Sea.

Aker is building a rig at Aker Stord near Bergen for delivery in the first half of 2008, and Odfjell is building a rig at Daweoo in South Korea for delivery in the first half of 2009.

Statoil has flexibility regarding length of the contracts and with options can secure the rigs for up to 20 years.

"With the signing of these contracts, Statoil is inviting the partners to be part of a renewal of the aging rig fleet on the Norwegian continental shelf," says Kjell-Erik Østdahl, Statoil's chief procurement officer. "Statoil believes strongly in a long life for the NCS. These two rigs will be good workhorses there for the next 20-30 years."

12/08/2006