Norwegian offshore drilling contractor Dolphin Drilling is reportedly preparing yet another round of downsizing.

According to Offshore.no, a Norwegian-language news website covering the country’s oil and gas industry, Dolphin Drilling is set to cut ‘at least’ 180 jobs.

Based on the report, the rationale for the cuts lies in the fact that the Bideford Dolphin drilling rig will go off contract with Statoil next year.

To remind, Dolphin Drilling had in June received a notice of suspension from Statoil for the Bideford Dolphin, with the suspension period set for three months, starting in the beginning of July. Compensation during the suspension is 80 percent of normal dayrate, Dolphin Drilling said at the time. The company’s three-year contract for the rig with Statoil is set to expire in January 2017.

The company’s three-year contract for the rig with Statoil is set to expire in January 2017.

Offshore Energy Today has reached out to Dolphin Drilling, and Industri Energi workers’ union, seeking comment. We will update the article if we get a response.

According to available info, the Bideford Dolphin is currently the driller’s only rig operating in Norway.

To remind, the Borgland Dolphin semi-submersible ended its contract with Rig Management Norway AS (RMN) in August. According to Offshore.no‘s previous reports, the loss of Borgland Dolphin contract meant job cuts for some 160 workers. The Borgland Dolphin’s latest AIS data shows it leaving Norway, on its way to Antares, Russia.

This leaves Bideford Dolphin as Dolphin’s only working rig in the country, with Bredford Dolphin semi-sub cold stacked in Kvinesdal, Norway.

Source: www.offshoreenergytoday.com