Danish offshore drilling firm Maersk Drilling has secured a two-well contract extension for one of its drilling rigs in Brazil.
The contract, for the Maersk Developer semi-submersible drilling rig, is with Karoon Energy, which on Thursday announced the final investment decision for the development of it Patola field in Brazil's Santos Basin.
For this project, Karoon Energy Ltd has exercised an option to add the drilling of two development wells at the Patola field to the rig's work scope
The work is expected to start in the second half of 2022, in direct continuation of the rig’s previously agreed work scope with Karoon at the Baúna field. The contract extension has a firm duration of 120 days, with a contract value of approximately $27 million.
Thomas Lysgaard Falk, Head of International Division, Maersk Drilling said: "We’re delighted to add this additional work scope for Mærsk Developer which shores up the rig’s drilling program for 2022. We’re looking forward to establishing a strong and integrated teamwork focused on reaching the common objectives in our campaign with Karoon in support of their first new development project as a production company. The first item on the agenda is the safe and efficient workover of four wells at Baúna before Mærsk Developer will move on to drill at Patola."
Karoon Energy’s Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Dr Julian Fowles said: that "We are very pleased to continue to build our partnership with Maersk Drilling through extending our contract with them. The Patola development will add materially to our production base and the Final Investment Decision made today represents a key milestone for Karoon in Brazil. The Karoon team looks forward to working closely with Maersk Drilling to deliver both the Baúna workover campaign and the Patola Project safely and efficiently.”
The Mærsk Developer drilling unit is a DSS-21 column-stabilized dynamically positioned semi-submersible rig, able to operate in water depths up to 10,000 ft. It was delivered in 2009 and is currently operating offshore Suriname.