Statoil awarded Aker Solutions a contract today for hiring of an entirely new type of rig which represents an important technological advance for the industry. The category B rig will be an important contribution towards increasing recovery from existing fields.
Development of technology for increasing the recovery from operating fields is an area of commitment for Statoil. For the last year, the average oil recovery rate from Statoil operated fields has risen from 49 percent to 50 percent.
The category B rig is designed and equipped for the industrialization of drilling and intervention services in existing production wells and represent a new sort of service.
A cooperation with the supplier industry, Statoil has developed a new type of rig and well control system specially adapted to carry out well intervention and drilling operations in existing subsea wells.
This type of rig fills the gap between light intervention vessels (category A) and conventional rigs (category C). The category B rig with associated integrated services is expected to reduce operating costs for well intervention by as much as 40%.
Statoil and the licensees will enter into an eight-year contract with options for three times two years for the category B service. The estimated value of the contract is USD 1.9 billion. In addition to rig rental, the contract also includes rental of the necessary equipment and services to carry out well intervention, sidetrack drilling, ROV operations, well testing and cementing. The rig will be in service during 2015.
Source: World Maritime News