Shelf Drilling said Friday it had secured a contract for the Shelf Drilling Barsk jack-up rig with Equinor for operations at the Sleipner Vest field in the North Sea, offshore Norway.
The contract is firm for two wells, and this will keep the jack-up drilling rig busy for about 270 days. The contract value for the firm period excluding certain integrated services, is approximately $61 million, Shelf Drilling said.
The contract also includes options for two additional wells, and the planned start-up of operations is between May and July 2024.
The Shelf Drilling Barsk rig was previously known by the name of Noble Lloyd Noble.
In October 2022, Shelf Drilling bought five jack-up drilling rigs Noble Hans Deul, Noble Sam Hartley, Noble Sam Turner, Noble Houston Colbert, and Noble Lloyd Noble, from Noble Corporation for $375 million.
It was at the time agreed for Noble to continue to operate the Noble Lloyd Noble under a bareboat charter with Shelf Drilling through the conclusion of the rig's drilling contract with Equinor in the second quarter of 2023.
David Mullen, Chief Executive Officer, of Shelf Drilling, said: “We are pleased to announce that the Shelf Drilling Barsk rig will continue to
operate for Equinor in Norway. Shelf Drilling is particularly proud to have recently acquired the CJ70 rig, which is uniquely equipped to withstand the challenging ultra-harsh environmental conditions in the North Sea region, and we are excited to be able to expand our offering into this segment of the market.
"We appreciate the opportunity to establish a partnership with Equinor, and we are confident that this relationship will continue to grow and prosper in the future. At Shelf Drilling, we remain committed to safety and sustainability and look forward to delivering exceptional performance to Equinor on the Sleipner Vest project.”