Statoil awarded Transocean a 22-well contract in the Norwegian North Sea for the harsh environment semisubmersible Transocean Spitsbergen with an estimated duration of 33 months; plus two one-well options. The estimated firm backlog associated…
UPDATE: One Maersk Drilling worker is dead and another injured following in an incident on the Maersk Interceptor jackup drilling rig, working at the Tambar field offshore Norway, on Thursday, 7 December. Aker BP said that the 'serious incident' was reported at 12…
Australian operator Northwest has signed a contract with ENSCO for use of the ENSCO 10 jackup to drill the Dorado-1 exploration well in exploration permit WA-437-P in the North West Shelf of Australia, according to partner Carnarvon Petroleum…
Borr Drilling has signed an agreement to acquire nine jackup rigs from Sembcorp Marine subsidiary PPL Shipyard, taking its fleet to 26 jackups, once all rigs under construction have been delivered. The acquired rigs have been built or are under construction at PPL's yard in Singapore…
Transocean is taking a US$1.4 billion impairment in Q3 2017 following the drilling contractor’s decision to scrap five ultra deepwater floaters, and one deepwater rig. The Sedco Express ultra deepwater floater will be scrapped…
Semco Maritime has won a contract to upgrade the West Elara jackup rig for a new, long-term assignment for ConocoPhillips, starting in 2018, in the Norwegian North Sea. The contract is the largest for Semco Maritime's Hanøytangen yard to date…
Pacific Drilling CEO Christian J. Beckett has stepped down from his positions as CEO and as a member of the board, after a 10-year tenure, to pursue other opportunities, the firm has announced. Paul T. Reese, the Houston-based company’s current Executive Vice President and CFO…
CIMC Raffles has started sea trials for the ultra-deepwater drilling rig Blue Whale II, following the completion equipment testing. The sea trials are expected to last for three weeks. Designed to operate in water depths of 3658m and drill to depths of up to 15…
NOV has signed a 10-year service and support agreement with Transocean, the oilfield services equipment provider announced today (28 July) in its Q2 2017 results. NOV said the agreement will maximize uptime and reduce total cost of ownership…
Partners on the Leviathan gas project offshore Israel have opted to end a rig contract with Atwood Oceanics in favor of a cheaper deal. Operator Noble Energy had been due to drill the Leviathan 5 and 7 appraisal and production wells using the Atwood Advantage drillship…
Elaine Maslin surveys some of the plugging and abandonment solutions presented at Sintef’s Experimental P&A Research for the North Sea event in Trondheim, Norway. Alexandra Bech Gjørv Plugging…
Island Drilling has been awarded a drilling contract with OMV Norge for one well on the Wisting license in the Norwegian Barents Sea. OMV will use the Island Innovator semisubmersible drilling rig, starting in Q3 this year. The Island Innovator is currently in warm lay-up at Hanøytangen…
Seadrill and North Atlantic Drilling Ltd. (NADL) have agreed to further extend a framework deal with Rosneft for the use of rigs until 31 May 2019. The companies first agreed on the deal on 22 August 2014. In November 2014 the long…
Sevan Drilling has announced yet another delivery deferral agreement for the Sevan Developer. This time, the delay has been extended to 30 June 2017 to “complete and finalize negotiations.” Other terms of the deferral agreement have not been amended…
Danish drilling rig operator Maersk Drilling has said it doesn't expect to see significant improvements in offshore rig demand until oil prices stabilize above US$60/bbl, or until drilling costs adjust to a lower oil price. 'With the excess supply…