Alpha Petroleum picks Awilco for Cheviot field drilling

Offshore drilling contractor Awilco Drilling has received a letter of award from UK oil firm Alpha Petroleum Resources for one of its two semi-submersible drilling rigs – the WillPhoenix.

Awilco said on Thursday that the UK oil company plans to drill 18 development wells on the Cheviot Field in the northern part of the UK North Sea, using the rig.

The firm program has an estimated duration of 1080 days and is scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2018. According to Awilco, the minimum contract value for the firm term is around $126 million.

The Cheviot field is 100 percent owned by Alpha Petroleum, and its core development will consist of 18 firm and five contingent wells. In April, Alpha Petroleum announced an exclusivity agreement with Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. on the project for the use of its Varg Floating Production Storage Offloading unit as well as FEED capabilities to the project. First oil is expected in 2019 at an expected rate of at least 30,000 barrels per day.

The field, described by Alpha Petroleum as one of the largest undeveloped fields in the UK North Sea, is estimated to hold 55 mmbbls of oil and 20 mmboe of future gas production.

Also, Alpha Petroleum named GE Oil & Gas as the exclusive supplier of early engineering, project management, and procurement activities for the project in May.

As far as the rig is concerned, the WilPhoenix is one of Awilco Drilling’s two Enhanced Pacesetter semi-submersibles and is equipped for drilling in water depths up to 1,200 ft. The rig is currently under contract with Apache on a $387.500 dayrate. The deal expires in late April of 2018.

The company’s other rig, the WilHunter, has been cold stacked in Invergordon with no near-term employment prospects. Both rigs were built in the 1980s but upgraded a few years back.

Offshore Energy Today Staff