Romanian company Grup Servicii Petroliere (GSP) has been awarded a contract by Wintershall Noordzee for offshore drilling services in the Dutch sector of the Southern North Sea.
GSP said the contract will see the company’s jack-up rig GSP Saturn mobilise from Tunisia to the North Sea.
The GSP Saturn is scheduled to start work for Wintershall in May under an initial 12-month deal.
Stuart Oakley, GSP’s CEO, said, “This contract marks the arrival of GSP in the North Sea market.
“We anticipate further growth of our share of this market, and plan to bring additional assets to the North Sea.”
GSP may be a newcomer to drilling in the North Sea, however the company has been around a long time.
Norman Smith, a former director general of the UK’s now defunct Offshore Supplies Office and author of The Sea of Lost Opportunity – a history of the oil and gas supply chain in the UK, said he was aware of the company during his time in office.
“Pre World War II, a lot of Shell people did their initial field training assignments in Romania and in WWII the oilfields and oil-related manufacturing there were priority allied targets,” said Smith.