Maersk Drilling is to reactivate its Maersk Reacher jack-up rig after securing a $33.4 million (£24m) contract with Aker BP.
The “ultra-hard environment” platform will be used to assist with well intervention, stimulation and accommodation at the Valhall field in the Norwegian North Sea.
Work is expected to get underway in July and the contract has a firm duration of 270 days, with a 90 day extension option.
Maersk Reacher will be kitted out with reduced drilling equipment.
It will have a specific focus on delivering the “most efficient well intervention and stimulation set-up”, including a limited crew level compared to standard drilling operations.
Since ending its previous contract offshore Norway in April last year, Maersk Reacher has been “warm-stacked”, meaning it is deployable but sitting idle, in Frederikshavn, Denmark.
The 350 foot, MSC CJ50 high-efficiency jack-up rig was built in Keppel’s Singapore shipyard in 2009.
Morten Kelstrup, COO of Maersk Drilling, said: “We’re delighted to get this contract which will see Maersk Reacher return to Valhall where it was last in service as an accommodation rig. This new contract to assist with well intervention, stimulation and accommodation will not utilise the full drilling capabilities of the rig, but we’re confident that we can build on our experience with the Aker BP Jack-up Alliance and work to deliver increased efficiency also in this context.”
First discovered in 1975, the Valhall field is operated by Norwegian firm Aker BP, which has a 90% stake in the asset, having sold 10% to Pandion Energy in 2017.
Tommy Sigmundstad, SVP drilling & wells at Aker BP, said: “This is a strong example of how our supplier ecosystem enables cross-alliances collaboration. We will play to the strengths of the Intervention & Stimulation Alliance and the Jack-up Alliance to jointly bring well interventions’ efficiency to the next level.”
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