Danish driller Maersk Drilling has been awarded two contract extensions for two jack-up rigs working in the North Sea.
Maersk said on Thursday that the jack-up Maersk Resolve was awarded a contract extension by Wintershall for the drilling of a third well in the ongoing drilling campaign.
The drilling of the third well will take place in the Dutch sector of the North Sea, and the work scope includes drilling as well as potential testing and completion activities.
Maersk Resolve is currently drilling the first well for Wintershall in the UK North Sea and will soon move to the Dutch sector to begin drilling the second well. The contract extension is up to 90 days and extends the duration of the contract with Wintershall from the original 160-190 days to a total of 210-280 days with further options included.
Maersk also received an extension for the Maersk Resolute jack-up with Petrogas E&P Netherlands. The extension covers two workovers at the Haven platform and brings the contract duration from the current 140 days to approximately 155 days.
Maersk Drilling’s chief commercial officer, Lars Østergaard , said: “I am pleased that our services have been well received by Wintershall as well as Petrogas E&P Netherlands. Both customer relationships are new, and it is very rewarding to be able to leverage our extensive experience in the North Sea and support our customers’ business by delivering safe and efficient drilling operations with rigs and crews that are prepared to work across the UK, Dutch and Danish parts of the North Sea.”
Before beginning initial contracts with the oil companies, the Maersk Resolute and Maersk Resolve were warm-stacked in Esbjerg. According to Maersk, the rigs have both had a rig uptime of over 99% since beginning work.
This is the second time the deals were extended as Offshore Energy Today reported on the initial extensions back in September .
Namely, the Resolute has been working for Petrogas since June under a contract awarded back in January . The initial deal for the rig was for 75 days, and the first extension was for two months.
The Resolve has been working for Wintershall since early July under an 86-day contract awarded in June . The first extension awarded by the oil company was until February 2018.