The first oil rig to be refitted at Nigg in nine years – GSF Galaxy I – has left Global Energy Group’s Easter Ross harbour.
Global said yesterday it had completed contracts worth £25million for Transocean on the drilling contractor’s GSF Galaxy I and Prospect semi-submersible rigs.
Global said more than 500 people carried out repairs, expanded living quarters and painted the rigs at the Nigg Energy Park.
Global chairman Roy MacGregor said he expected more drilling contractors to follow in Transocean’s footsteps and turn to Nigg for upgrade work in future.
He said: “This was a wonderful opportunity for us to test all aspects of the facilities we have at Nigg and we greatly appreciate the support we had from Transocean in giving us this opportunity to showcase what is a fantastic asset.”
Transocean’s managing director in the UK, Adrian Rose, said: “We have a long and excellent relationship with Global and their people and were delighted to have the Nigg drydock facility as an option for us after many years of the dock being out of use.
“We have a large number of rigs in the North Sea that frequently require periodic surveys and upgrades, and having Nigg Energy Park as an option to consider is of real benefit in our plans going forward.”
Global’s 238-acre complex on the Cromarty Firth closed in 2000, but the Aberdeen and Inverness-based firm will spend nearly £10million refitting it between now and 2016.
In its heyday, the Nigg yard employed 5,000, and more than 2,000 jobs are expected to be created between now and 2015.