Norway's Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) has authorized Norwegian E&P player Aker BP to use the Maersk Reacher mobile facility as a quarters facility on the Valhall field.
A public statement from PSA said: "A lot of work will be taking place on the Valhall field in the time ahead, and Aker BP has applied for consent to use Maersk Reacher as a quarters facility on the field from September/October 2018 until the end of 2020. We have granted Aker BP consent for this."
Maersk Reacher is a jack-up drilling facility built at the Keppel Shipyard in Singapore in 2009. The facility is operated by Maersk Drilling Norge AS. Maersk Reacher was issued with an Acknowledgement of Compliance (AoC) by the PSA on 15 July 2011.
Few weeks ago, Maersk Drilling and Aker BP have agreed to a new two-year contract to reactivate and quickly deploy jack-up rig Maersk Reacher in the Norwegian part of the North Sea.
Maersk Reacher will be deployed as an accommodation rig, with the option of repurposing the rig for plugging & abandonment for the final phase of the contract.
The flexible contract is agreed upon in continuation of the alliance between Maersk Drilling and Aker BP where the parties have committed to align incentives and co-create optimal solutions.
Maersk Drilling and Aker BP entered the joint jack-up alliance in November, 2017. The alliance aims at increasing profitability for the partners and is formalised in a five-year agreement with the option to extend for an additional five years.
