Offshore staff
OSLO, Norway -- AGR Group says the Byford Dolphin semisubmersible drilling rig has spudded the first well in a seven-month, multi-well, multi-client program in the Bay of Biscay offshore southwest France.
This well, on behalf of the operator, Vermillion Energy Trust, is the first to be drilled offshore France since 1998.
The remaining wells in the program will be drilled in the North Sea for operators Nautical Petroleum Plc., Xcite Energy Resources Ltd., and Genesis Petroleum Corp. Plc. AGR Group's petroleum services division will provide complete well project management services to the operators, from design and planning through equipment and services supply to management of operations.
"We are excited to be part of the first drilling activity offshore France for nearly 10 years and to be running four multi-client, multi-well programs concurrently," says Ian Burdis, AGR well construction division manager. "There is strong demand for our managed drilling programs which form an important component in the delivery of the exploration, appraisal, and development programs of many operators with shorter duration or intermittent activities. These aggregated programs created by AGR Group allow these operators access to drilling capacity which is only available under long term contracts."
AGR Group announced last month that another rig in the Dolphin fleet, theBredford Dolphin, had begun a three-year, multi-well program on the Norwegian continental shelf involving seven oil companies. AGR Group now has four multi-client, multi-well campaigns in operation in Australia and North West Europe.
9/4/2007
