Maersk Drilling, Keppel, Land Ultra-Harsh Environment Jackup Contract with Statoil

Maersk Drilling announced today the ordering of a new ultra harsh, high specification jack-up rig at Keppel FELS in Singapore backed by a four-year-contract with Statoil.  The order comes only one year after Maersk Drilling invested around USD $1.2 billion in two similar jack-up rigs for the Norwegian market and indicates the continued strong demand for advanced drilling rigs while enforcing Maersk Drilling’s ambitious growth strategy.

“This will be a completely new jack-up drilling rig that is to be built at KeppelFels in Singapore,” says Jon Arnt Jacobsen, chief procurement officer at Statoil.  “It will be the third of this type of rig built with the CJ-70 design. Valued at USD $605 million, the contract runs for four years with two one-year options.”

Claus V. Hemmingsen, CEO of Maersk Drilling and member of the Executive Board of the A.P. Moller – Maersk Group comments:

“Norway remains a focus area for Maersk Drilling and we are very pleased to further solidify our strong position in the Norwegian jack-up market,” says  “Over the past 16 months we have made significant investments in three highly advanced jack-up rigs for Norwegian waters and will continue to evaluate opportunities for further growth in the area.”

This new rig is slated to conduct development drilling on the Statoil-operated Dagny field in the Norwegian North Sea.

Production drilling is scheduled to start the summer of 2015 by pre-drilling through the fixed production jacket before the platform deck is installed the summer of 2016. With pre-drilling, production from Dagny can be accelerated.

Facts about this new ultra harsh environment jack-up rig, via Maersk Drilling

The rig represents, together with its two sister rigs ordered in 2011, a new generation of jack-up rigs. The design is an enhanced version of the proven Gusto MSC CJ-70-150MD design and includes a number of features that will further improve the rigs’ drilling performance. The rigs are especially suited for development drilling over well head platforms at water depths up to 150 meters, but are also prepared for subsea drilling. The high capacity features include offline pipe handling and simultaneous operations as well as an enlarged cantilever reach, all of which will significantly increase the drilling efficiency compared to conventional units. The enhanced design also includes multi-machine control on the drill floor, which will allow for a high degree of automation to ensure a safe operation and consistent performance. A total of 150 people can be accommodated on board in single cabins.

About the Dagny Field, via Statoil

“Dagny and its satellite tie-in Eirin are among Statoil’s major developments, containing an estimated 300 million barrels of oil and gas, and we are satisfied that Statoil has now ensured capacity in the rig market in connection with this. The field development will extend the life and utilise the available capacity on Sleipner for many years to come,” says Ivar Aasheim, senior vice president for NCS Field Development at Statoil.

Long assumed a minor gas discovery just north of Sleipner, Dagny is a field whose development has been considered on several occasions since its discovery in 1974.

Once oil and gas were proven in the neighbouring structure Dagny Øst (formerly Ermintrude) in 2007, the landscape around Dagny was reassessed.

Further delineation in the period 2008 to 2011 established a connection between Dagny and Dagny Øst along with substantial volumes of oil underneath the entire structure. Subsea development with tie-in to the planned Dagny platform has been selected for the adjacent Eirin gas field.