International drilling and engineering contractor KCA Deutag, of Aberdeen, said yesterday new contracts from Norway’s Statoil were worth at least £444million.
KCA Deutag will provide drilling operations, maintenance services and engineering support for the Gullfaks and Oseberg fields, totalling seven platform drilling rigs, on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.
The contracts cover an initial period of four years but there are options to extend them by three further periods of two years each.
KCA Deutag, which also operates the Kvitebjorn platform drilling rig for Statoil, said the deal extended a longstanding and productive working relationship with Statoil spanning nearly30 years.
Rune Lorentzen, the Aberdeen firm’s senior vice president for platforms added: “I believe that through these awards we have cemented our position in the North Sea.”
A KCA Deutag spokeswoman said the new contracts would create a “small number” of jobs, based in Bergen, Norway, but most of the workers would transfer from another contractor.