Norwegian oil major Statoil has been given consent by the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) to use the Maersk Intrepid drilling rig for production drilling on the Martin Linge field development in the North Sea.
The safety authority said on Thursday that the consent covered the drilling of top-hole sections for production wells on the Statoil-operated Martin Linge field, off Norway.
Statoil took over operatorship of the Martin Linge field from Total on March 19, 2018 . The Norwegian major now has a 70% interest in the field and the remaining 30% is held by Petoro.
According to the safety watchdog, the drilling operations are estimated to take 21 days, 42 days including options. The planned start-up is in early May 2018.
To remind, two largest modules for the Martin Linge platform topsides arrived in Stavanger and the Rosenberg WorleyParsons yard in late March where they will be prepared for offshore installation scheduled for July.
As for the rig, the Maersk Intrepid is a jack-up drilling rig, delivered by the Keppel Shipyard in Singapore in 2014. The rig is owned by Maersk and operated by Maersk Drilling Norge.
The rig has been working on the Martin Linge field since 2014. The contract with the previous operator, Total, was extended in December 2017 for another firm 196 days with options for additional 61 days. The extension will start in September 2018 in direct continuation of the current deal.
Martin Linge
The Martin Linge field is an oil and gas field under development west of the Oseberg field in the North Sea, with estimated recoverable resources in excess of 300 million barrels oil equivalent. The expected production lifetime extends into the 2030s. Martin Linge is being developed with a manned wellhead platform.
Offshore Energy Today Staff