Dolphin Drilling has been awarded a three year contract worth £243 million with BP Exploration for the use of the semi-submersible drilling rig Byford Dolphin.
The contract, an extension of a previous deal, will see the rig out new well construction and decommissioning work for BP in the central UK North Sea.
It will also see investment valued at about £26million in a new generation five ram blowout preventer and control system on the rig, due to be carried out in early 2014.
Jim Cowie, BP’s vice president of wells, said the contract showed BP’s continuing commitment to the North Sea.
In the central North Sea, the firm is carrying out decommissioning work on its Don field and is planning similar work on the Miller field.
The central North Sea is also home to BP’s Andrew and Etap installations, which are the focus of new development work, including the tying in of the Arundel and Kinnoull fields to the Andrew platform.
BP is also working on a tie-back of the Devenick field to the East Brae platform.
Mr Cowie said: “The extension of this contract is a further example of BP’s ongoing commitment to invest in its North Sea business.
“The Byford Dolphin is an important part of BP’s North Sea drilling capability and over the coming years will be involved in new well construction and decommissioning activity in the central North Sea.”
The contract is a direct continuation of an existing contract and includes an option to extend it for another three years.
The Byford Dolphin was built in 2000 by Samsung Heavy Industries.
Dolphin Drilling, which employs 65 people in Aberdeen and 245 offshore out of the Granite City, is a subsidiary of Norway’s Fred. Olsen Energy.
BP recently announced it had ordered four new platform-support vessels for the North Sea – two of which are to work in the UK sector west of Shetland, starting from late 2013-summer 2014.
The ships, being built in Korea by Hyundai, are understood to come with a price tag totalling about £130million.
Recommended for you
