COSL sues Statoil over rig contract termination

China Oilfield Services Limited (COSL) is suing Statoil after the oil company terminated a contract for the COSLInnovator semi-sub following a fatal accident on board the rig almost a year ago.

Statoil terminated the drilling contract with COSL for the semi-submersible drilling rig COSLInnovator in March 2016.

In December last year, while working on the Troll field offshore Norway, the rig was hit by a heavy wave causing the death of one worker.

COSL said in March it “strongly disagrees with Statoil’s decision” and sought to resolve the differences with the oil company.

As the pair was unable to resolve its differences, on Wednesday, December 14 COSL filed a civil action against Statoil with Oslo District Court of Norway. The court hearing has not started yet.

In its claim, COSL stated that Statoil’s termination of the contract was unlawful and asked for the contract to be maintained. If the contract cannot be maintained, the company has claimed that Statoil is obliged to cover the company’s loss resulting from the unlawful termination, and the exact amount of damages will be subject to subsequent proceedings.

Offshore Energy Today has reached out to Statoil seeking comment, however, we are yet to receive the company’s response.

To remind, the Norwegian offshore safety agency Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) revealed the results of its investigation of the fatal incident in April claiming that the structural design and dimensioning of the rig were not in accordance with the regulations.

However, based on new information about the case, the agency changed its report in July. This time, the report claimed there were no breaches of the rig construction regulations.