Statoil Suspends Another Rig Contract

Scarabeo 5. Photo: Statoil

Norwegian oil major Statoil has decided to suspend its contract for the semi-submersible drilling Scarabeo 5 due to overcapacity in its rig portfolio.

The suspension will take effect once Scarabeo 5 has completed drilling of a well on the Kristin field in the middle of August, and will last until 1 March 2016.

“We regret the need to suspend Scarabeo 5, but we will do our utmost to resume our drilling operations earlier than planned at the time of suspending the rig,” says Jon Arnt Jacobsen, senior vice president of Procurement in Statoil.

Last week, Statoil terminated its contract with the COSL Pioneer some 13 months earlier than planned. The rig had been laid up since September again due to overcapacity, mainly due to falling oil prices.

In October, Statoil suspended contracts for two other rigs, the Transocean Spitsbergen and Songa Trym, for the same reasons.

In all four cases, the rigs were operating on the Norwegian continental shelf.

The most contract suspension comes as construction begins on the giant Johan Sverdrup development project offshore Norway, the largest industrial project in Norway for decades to come.