The Norwegian safety watchdog, the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA), has given Eni consent to use the Scarabeo 8 drilling rig at the Goliat field in the Barents Sea. The regulator said on Tuesday that the Scarabeo 8 rig would drill two production wells. One of the two wells to be drilled will be use
Following a letter of intent in March, Odfjell Drilling has signed a two-well contract for the ultra deepwater drillship Deepsea Metro I with an undisclosed party. The letter of intent was dated March 23, 2017. It was secured by Odfjell Drilling, the manager of the rig, on behalf of Golden Close Mar
Norwegian base for supply activities to the petroleum fields, Coast Center Base (CCB), and Safe Yards have entered into a close cooperation agreement for the winterization of drilling rigs. The two companies said in a joint statement that the cooperation agreement was signed on Friday, May 26. Svein
The Norwegian offshore safety body, the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA), has found an improvement point during an audit of the COSLPromoter semi-submersible drilling rig. The PSA said on Monday that the audit of the rig was done in the domain of structural safety. The safety body said that the audi
Following an increase by two units in the week before, the number of U.S. offshore rigs remained the same last week, according to weekly rig count reports by Baker Hughes. BHI Rig Count: U.S. +7 to 908 rigs U.S. Rig Count is up 7 rigs from last week to 908, with oil rigs up 2 to […]
Cairn Energy has started drilling the FAN South-1 exploration well into the South Fan prospect, offshore Senegal. According to a Friday statement by Far Limited, a partner in the project, the well is the first pure exploration well to be drilled offshore Senegal since the discovery wells of FAN-1 an
Octanex, an Australian-based oil and gas company, is getting ready for a drilling campaign at the Ophir field offshore Malaysia as it is waiting for a drilling rig to arrive at the field. Octanex informed on Thursday that the UMW Drilling’s 2009-built Naga 2 jack-up drilling rig will shortly begin m
Oil and gas company Faroe Petroleum has started drilling its operated Brasse appraisal well 31/7-2S in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. Faroe announced the Brasse oil and gas discovery in PL740, where it holds 50% interest, in July 2016. The main wellbore 31/7-1 encountered an 18 meter gross g
Pacific Drilling-owned drillship Pacific Scirocco has entered Guinea shelf waters and is starting drilling operations for the independent exploration company Hyperdynamics. Worth noting, by the start of drilling operations, Hyperdynamics does not mean the actual spudding, but the drillship preparati
Offshore driller Seadrill has said it has made progress with its restructuring plans which may involve Chapter 11 solution. In April, the company reached an agreement with its bank group to extend the comprehensive restructuring plan negotiating period until July 31, 2017, reflecting significant pro
Danish offshore driller Maersk Drilling has secured a contract extension for the ultra-deepwater drillship Maersk Viking with ExxonMobil. The estimated value of the contract extension is $22.5 million, with a duration of 150 days. Maersk Viking has been operating for ExxonMobil on the Julia field in
Norwegian oil giant Statoil has kicked off its offshore exploration campaign in the Barents Sea off Norway by starting a new exploration well. The oil firm informed through its social media channels on Monday that the Songa Enabler Cat D drilling rig started drilling the exploration well at 01:45 la
Statoil has received consent from the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) to use the Bideford Dolphin drilling rig for production drilling at Vigdis field offshore Norway. Vigdis is an oil field in block 34/7 at the Tampen area of the Norwegian North Sea. The field, which is in 280 meters of water, has
Norwegian oil company Statoil will use Bideford Dolphin drilling rig for yet another well on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. According to a Friday Oslo Stock Exchange filing by Fred. Olsen Energy, a parent company of Dolphin Drilling which operates the rig, Statoil has exercised an option for the a
