Eni extends North Sea P&A arrangement for Well-Safe rig
What is P&A?
From the first signature on a lease, offshore operators know that they will have to clean up the area after they drill and produce hydrocarbons (oil and natural gas) and decommission the facilities and structures placed on the leased area, also called plug and abandonment (P&A).
Definition by US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE)
Eni has taken up a further 90-day option for the Well-Safe Protector jackup for a P&A program in the Dutch North Sea.
The rig, owned and operated by Well-Safe Solutions, has been decommissioning subsea and platform wells for Eni. The new term will start in direct continuation of the previously declared option, which began last November.
Once this latest option has finished, the rig will start work on another contract in the North Sea with Spirit Energy.
Under the arrangements, the Well-Safe Protector will be committed until at least August. Thereafter, Eni also has the option for 120 days of further work to decommission platform wells, plus two more 180-day options.
So potentially, the rig could be fully booked until fourth-quarter 2026.
Since August 2023, it has been in continuous service in the North Sea, decommissioning 25 wells in the Dutch and UK sectors for Eni, Ithaca Energy and Neptune Energy.
Last November, Spirit Energy and another operator contracted Well-Safe Protector and the semisub Well-Safe Defender about 170 days’ firm work in the region, under contracts with a combined value of $25 million.
Well-Safe Solutions in the news:
About the Author
Jeremy Beckman
Editor, Europe
Jeremy Beckman has been Editor Europe, Offshore since 1992. Prior to joining Offshore he was a freelance journalist for eight years, working for a variety of electronics, computing and scientific journals in the UK. He regularly writes news columns on trends and events both in the NW Europe offshore region and globally. He also writes features on developments and technology in exploration and production.