Statoil has received consent from the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) Norway to use Scarabeo 5 for plugging and production drilling in the Norwegian Sea.
Statoil is the operator of the Kristin field, which is in blocks 6406/2 and 6506/11 at Haltenbanken in the Norwegian Sea.
Statoil will plug well 6406/2-R-4 BHT2 permanently and simultaneously drill a new production well as a sidetrack from the well being plugged. The new production well will be designated 6406/2-R-4-CH.
The PSA says that the water depth at the site is 355 metres and the combined activities are estimated to last 138 days.
The PSA has now granted Statoil consent to use the Scarabeo 5 semi-submersible drilling rig for these activities.
Scarabeo 5 is a type ME 4500 semi-submersible drilling rig and was built at the Fincantieri Shipyard in Genoa, Italy in 1990. It is operated by Saipem Norwegian Branch (Saipem), registered in the Bahamas and classified by ABS.
Scarabeo 5 was issued with an Acknowledgement of Compliance (AoC) by the PSA in May 2003.
To remind, Statoil suspended Scarabeo 5’s contract in July this year due to “overcapacity in its rig portfolio”. At the time, the company announced its plans to recommission the rig after the turn of the year.
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