Drilling company North Atlantic Drilling Limited has received a notice of cancellation from Statoil related to the contract for the West Epsilon jack-up drilling rig.
The West Epsilon was originally contracted for drilling services in Norway until the end of December 2016. The rig has been working for Statoil since December 2010 performing operations for the Sleipner, Gudrun and Huldra licenses.
The rig is currently performing permanent well plugging operations on the Hulda field.
North Atlantic Drilling said on Tuesday that the early cancellation would be effective once the rig completes its current activities in mid-October after which it will be sent ashore for equipment demobilization. The contract will be canceled after the demobilization work has been completed, about two months earlier than the original contract expiry date.
Statoil explained on Tuesday that the licenses do not have any work program for the remaining contract period, nor does Statoil have any other activities where the available capacity can be used.
In accordance with the contract, the company will receive a lump sum payment of approximately $11 million. According to the company, the West Epsilon is currently being marketed for new employment.
West Epsilon is constructed at Far East Livingstone Shipyard in Singapore and was delivered in 1993. West Epsilon is designed to operate in harsh environments, in water-depths up to 120 m with drilling depths down to 7800 m. The rig has operated on the Norwegian Continental Shelf and UK waters since 1994, performing exploration drilling, development drilling, HPHT operations and plug & abandonment.
Offshore Energy Today Staff