Aker BP in 'Rig Extension'
Tuesday 9 May 2017
Aker BP has reportedly exercised an option to extend its charter of semi-submersible rig Transocean Arctic for an ongoing drilling campaign off Norway.
The Anglo-Norwegian operator is presently using the rig for drilling work in the vicinity of its Alvheim field in the North Sea, with the Volund West prospect now on its radar screen after securing a permit for the probe.
The Transocean-owned semisub was chartered by Aker BP last November to drill an initial four wells at Alvheim under a firm 250-day contract worth $44.75 million, with a dayrate of $180,000.
The operator has now exercised options to extend the current deal, which expires in July, for a further three wells with start-up in October until February 2018 at a higher dayrate of $206,000, according to Norwegian news site Petro.no.
The rig will be used to drill one production well as well as two exploration probes in the North Sea.
Oslo-listed Aker BP has previously stated it intends to drill two North Sea exploration wells in the third quarter of this year at the Hyrokkin prospect in its operated production licence 677 and Nordfjellet/Delta in its operated PL442.
It also has a raft of other potential drilling targets being matured in the Alvheim area as it seeks to boost production via the field’s floating production, storage and offloading vessel, promising further employment prospects for the 1987-built harsh-environment rig.