Statoil ASA has let two contracts to Odfjell Drilling for work in Johan Sverdrup field offshore Norway. The contracts are for the Deepsea Atlantic semisubmersible rig and a fixed-drilling unit yet to be installed. Statoil says the total value of the contracts is 4.3 billion kroner.
The charter for Deepsea Atlantic semi begins in March 2016 and continues for 3 years with an additional six 6-month options. The rig will drill at least 13 pilot wells before beginning production in 2019, according to Statoil’s Oivind Reinersten, senior vice-president of the company’s Johan Sverdrup operations.
The 4-year contract for Statoil’s fixed-drilling unit will begin in December 2018 and includes a subsequent six 1-year options. The rig will be built by Aibel AS, AS Nymo Dek, and National Oilwell with engineering support from Odfjell.
Both contracts are subject to approval by the Norwegian Parliament later this year. These are the fifth and sixth contracts let by Statoil for Johan Sverdrup this year (OGJ Online, June 8, 2015; Mar. 16, 2015; Feb. 24, 2015; Jan. 20, 2015).
Statoil says Johan Sverdrup has recoverable resources of 1.4-2.4 billion boe and consists of 95% oil and 5% rich gas.
The company has invested 117 billion kroner in Phase 1 of the field’s development consisting of four installations: a utility and accommodation platform, a processing platform, a drilling platform, and a riser platform. These are in addition to three subsea templates for water injection. (OGJ Online, Feb. 13, 2015). Statoil’s goal is a 70% recovery rate from the field.
The Johan Sverdrup partnership includes Statoil, Lundin Norway AS, ASA Petoro, Det Norske Oljeselkap ASA, and Maersk Oil. The partners have chosen Statoil as operator in all phases of the field’s development (OGJ Online, Dec. 1, 2014).
