Repsol Charters Rowan Rig
Monday 5 June 2017
Repsol has reportedly taken jack-up Rowan Stavanger on a long-term charter for well plugging and abandonment work on its Varg field off Norway to reactivate the idled rig.
The deal, first reported by Norwegian publication Petro.no, covers a duration of around 200 days and carries options for similar work on further wells.
The contract is due for start-up in the third or fourth quarter of this year and means US rig owner Rowan Companies can bring the 2011-built unit out of its current lay-up in Scotland, having been idle since since the summer of 2015 due to a lack of work amid a drilling market slump.
No value was disclosed for the deal though it is likely to have been secured by the Spanish operator at a lowly dayrate given that rates have fallen to around $130,000 for such units in the North Sea.