Rig owner and operator Songa Offshore is close to taking delivery of the first two of four Cat D rigs it is building to work for Norway’s Statoil.
The Songa Equinox has completed sea trials and is scheduled for delivery mid-June. The Songa Endurance is undergoing sea trials and is due to be delivered in August. The final two, Songa Encourage and Songa Enabler, are due to be delivered in September and November, respectively.
The new additions to the Norwegian rig fleet come as rig operators are being squeezed as spending has been cut by operators.
“Global market environment remains challenging, securing new contracts for existing rigs is a high priority,” says Songa Offshore in its 1Q results. “Visibility in the North Sea drilling market is still low and the competition for the few tenders in the market is fierce. Songa Offshore is of the view that 2015 and 2016 will be two challenging years for the industry. We expect more rigs to leave the Norwegian Continental Shelf and some being stacked going forward.”
Statoil ordered the Cat D rigs at a time when rig capacity was tight and rig rates high on the Norwegian Continental Shelf and across the North Sea. Now rigs are leaving to seek work elsewhere.
The award for the first two was made in 2011, with delivery originally scheduled for 2014, with firm terms of eight years each and with options that could extend this period to 20 years. The second order for two more was signed in 2012, with delivery originally scheduled for early 2015. However, the yard, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, has suffered “significant delays” and overruns, says Songa. The firm’s COO Mark Bessell was moved to Korea to head the project team to keep the remaining construction progress on track.
Following its delivery mid-June, the Songa Equinox is due to transit to Norway in a wet tow mode.
The purpose-built category D rigs are able to operate in water depths between 100-500m, and drill wells to a depth of 8500m. These so-called “workhorses” for mature fields will primarily be used for drilling of production wells and well completion.
Originally, one of the new category D rigs was due be used on the Norne, Heidrun and Åsgård licences, the other was due to be part of Statoil’s strategic rig fleet and set up for year-round operations in the Barents Sea.
Following the sale of the Songa Mercur, Songa’s existing fleet comprises the Songa Trym, Songa Delta and Songa Dee, all of which are working for Statoil in Norway on long-term contracts. From 1-18 January the Songa Trym was on 75% suspension rate.
The Songa Dee is continuing a drilling and workover campaign on Gullfaks. Songa Trym is completing an exploration well on Gina Krog in June and will then mobilize to UK for two exploration wells. Songa Delta is continuing drilling “fast track” production wells on Oseberg.
Songa Trym, Songa Delta and Songa Dee have firm contracts to 1Q, 3Q, and 4Q 2016.
Image: The Cat D design. Image from Statoil.
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