Maersk Drilling Keeping its Rig Fleet Busy as More Work Comes in

Danish offshore drilling contractor Maersk Drilling is keeping its drilling rig fleet busy as new contracts and extensions pour in for the driller.

In its fleet status report published on Thursday Maersk Drilling said that several new contracts and extensions were signed during the first quarter of the year as well as after the end of the quarter.

In 1Q 2019, Eni has exercised a 35-day option for the Maersk Voyager drillship in direct continuation of the rig’s contract in Ghana. The contract with Eni is set to end in June 2019.

It is worth reminding that the Voyager drillship has recently drilled a well for Eni on the Akoma exploration prospect located offshore Ghana. The well was drilled in a water depth of 350 meters and reached a total depth of 3790 meters. It proved an estimated volume between 550 and 650 bcf of gas and 18-20 mmbbl of condensate.

In addition, Maersk Voyager has been awarded a 70-day contract with Noble Energy in Equatorial Guinea. The contract is expected to start in 2Q 2019 and end in July 2019. The contract also includes one one-well option.

in Equatorial Guinea, Noble Energy is working on making a Final Investment Decision for the Alen gas project in 2019.

During the first quarter of 2019, the Maersk Viking drillship has been awarded more time with its current client. Namely, Aker Energy exercised two options of 41 days and 49 days respectively on direct continuation of the rig’s contract in Ghana. This contract with Aker Energy ends in May.

To remind, Aker Energy in April concluded the appraisal drilling campaign at its operated Deepwater Tano Cape Three Points (DWT/CTP) block offshore Ghana for which it used the Maersk Viking drillship.

In addition, Maersk Viking has won a one-well contract with three additional one-well options with AGM Petroleum Ghana. One of the three options has been exercised. The contract is set to start this month and end in August 2019.

The jack-up rig Maersk Resolve has been awarded a a 60-day contract with Wintershall Noordzee in the Netherlands. This deal started in March and will last until August 2019.

The rig has been also been awarded a 180-day contract, plus two one-well options, with Wintershall Noordzee in the Netherlands from August 2019 until February 2020.

Furthermore, CNOOC has exercised the first of nine one-well options for the Maersk Innovator jack-up rig in the UK, which expires in October 2019. Expected duration is 75 days. The company now has eight one-well options remaining under the contract.

The jack-up Maersk Resolute has been awarded a 49-day extension by Petrogas, which will keep the rig working in the Netherlands until the end of September 2019.

At the end of the first quarter 2019, Maersk Drilling’s backlog was $2.2 billion.

As previously reported, after the end of the first quarter 2019, the Maersk Deliverer semi-submersible has been awarded a three-year contract with Inpex for drilling at the Ichthys gas and condensate field in the Browse Basin offshore Western Australia. The estimated value (revenue) of the three-year contract is $300 million, including mobilization. The rig’s current contract with Eni in Timor Leste is set to end this month.

Finally, the Maersk Discoverer semi-submersible drilling rig has been awarded a 100-day extension of its current contract with BP in Egypt, which will keep the rig working until the end of October 2019.