Nexen Petroleum UK has awarded Maersk Drilling a contract for the drilling of three wells and options for nine additional wells at the Buzzard field in the Central North Sea.
The drilling campaign is for the Buzzard Phase II Development Project and is planned to commence around July 2018. The estimated duration of the initial firm contract period is 225 days. The drilling campaign will be carried out by one of Maersk Drilling’s I-class jackups currently operating in Norway; the specific rig will be decided upon this month. The I-class jackups are of a CJ70 design and are the world’s largest and most advanced jackup rigs, Maersk said in a 1 November press statement.
“This is an important win in a challenged market, and we appreciate this opportunity to leverage our extensive experience in the North Sea and further strengthen our good relationship with Nexen Petroleum U.K Limited,” says Lars Ostergaard, chief commercial officer of Maersk Drilling. Ostergaard attributed the award to Maersk’s high efficiency harsh environment rig design that includes offline capabilities as well as a proven track record of delivering high performance and driving continuous improvement.