Equinor to use Transocean rig for Oseberg well ops

Norwegian oil major Equinor has received consent from the offshore safety body, the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA), for drilling and well operations on the Oseberg field using the Transocean Norge drilling rig.

PSA said on Friday that the Transocean Norge would work on the 30/9-O-3 H well located on the Oseberg field in the North Sea. The field is in production licence 104 operated by Equinor.

Oseberg is a field in the northern part of the North Sea. The water depth is 100 metres. Oseberg was discovered in 1979, and the plan for development and operation was approved in 1984.

The field was developed in multiple phases and production started in 1988. The Oseberg Field Centre in the south originally consisted of two facilities: the process and accommodation facility Oseberg A and the drilling and water injection facility Oseberg B.

Oseberg C was approved in 1988 and included an integrated production, drilling, and quarters facility in the northern part of the field while the gas phase was approved in 1996 and included a facility for gas processing named Oseberg D.

A PDO for the western flank was approved in 2003 and included a subsea template tied-back to Oseberg B. The Oseberg Delta PDO was approved in 2005 and included a subsea template tied-back to Oseberg D.

A development plan for Oseberg Delta II was approved in 2013 and included two subsea templates tied-back to the Oseberg Field Centre. Oseberg Vestflanken II plan was approved in 2016 and included an unmanned wellhead platform, Oseberg H, and new wells from the existing G4 template on the western flank. The Oseberg Øst, Oseberg Sør, and Tune fields are tied to the Oseberg Field Centre.

It is worth reminding that the Transocean Norge semi-submersible rig was recently awarded a one-well contract by Equinor. The well will be drilled in Norway while the contract will last from April until May 2021 with a day rate of $294,000.

As for the rig, the Transocean Norge, formerly known as West Rigel, is a semi-submersible drilling rig of the MMCS60 type.

Transocean became the owner of the rig through an acquisition in May 2019. The rig was originally ordered at the Jurong yard by a Seadrill subsidiary, North Atlantic Drilling Limited, but was never delivered. The Transocean Norge was built at Jurong between 2012 and 2016.