Songa Enabler rig back to drilling earlier than expected

Offshore driller Songa Offshore expects its Songa Enabler drilling rig to resume drilling operations soon, following a suspension by Statoil.

Songa Offshore on October 31, 2016, received a notification from Statoil for suspension of Songa Enabler and on December 29, 2016, the rig went on 75% suspension rate.

The suspension period was to end on April 1, 2017, when the rig was to start working on the Blåmann well. However, the suspension is now expected to be lifted a month earlier.

Presenting its quarterly results on Friday, Songa said the Songa Enabler rig is now expected to resume drilling operations in the Barents Sea in early March 2017.

Finances improved

With regards to the financial performance, the company managed to narrow its net loss for the fourth quarter of 2016.

The company’s net loss was $36 million, an improvement from a net loss of $158 million in the fourth quarter 2015. Revenue grew to $187 million, up from $159 million a year ago.

All Songa Offshore’s operating rigs are working for Statoil on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The Cat D rigs had an average operating efficiency of 98.3% and an average earnings efficiency of 91.3% in the fourth quarter 2016. The earnings efficiency was negatively impacted by 5% from being on Force Majeure rate for 38 rig days in October 2016 during a strike, where the Company was not directly involved in the conflict.

“With a strong focus on rig performance and cost efficiency Songa Offshore is pleased to report another solid operational quarter, where we have had good Cat D uptime. As for the Songa Enabler, we are pleased that Statoil has accelerated the start-up from the suspension period from 1 April to early March, and we look forward to having all four Cat D rigs on operating rate again. During the quarter we also extended unsecured debt maturities improving 2018 liquidity significantly,” says Songa Offshore CEO, Bjørnar Iversen.

Providing the outlook for the market, Songa Offshore said the North Sea drilling market continued to be very challenging with a limited number of tenders on both the NCS and in the UK markets during fourth quarter 2016.

As a result, further rigs have come off contract and have been stacked. While the North Sea rig utilization will reach a historic low during 2017, there are indications of increased operator interest and tender activities, Songa said.

Offshore Energy Today Staff