Offshore drilling contractor Awilco Drilling has signed a letter of intent with an undisclosed operator for the provision of WilPhoenix in support of a three well plug & abandonment program.
The program has an estimated duration of 100 days and will start in early May 2020, Awilco said on Thursday. The contract value is estimated at $13.8 million.
WilPhoenix is one of Awilco Drilling’s two enhanced pacesetter semi-submersibles and is equipped for drilling in water depths up to 1,200 ft.
Awilco Drilling also has two newbuild rigs on order of Moss CS60 ECO MW design equipped for drilling in harsh environments, and independent options for additional two rigs of the same design.
The WilPhoenix rig has been working for Shell since 2018. The original contract was for a decommissioning program of 18 firm wells plus options totaling a further eight wells. This was later extended for one well.
In May 2019, Shell gave notice of its intention to Awilco Drilling to exercise two options under the WilPhoenix decommissioning contract covering the abandonment of five further wells. Following this extension, the contract included 24 firm wells with the firm duration estimated to run to late 1Q 2020.
However, in August 2019, Awilco Drilling received notice from Shell that the company would not be exercising the remaining contract options on WilPhoenix for two abandonment wells and three exploration wells.
In 3Q 2019, the WilPhoenix was in continued operations for Shell UK at the Heron location.