Neptune adds more work to Deepsea Yantai rig backlog

Offshore drilling contractor Odfjell Drilling has secured more work for the Deepsea Yantai drilling rig from Neptune Energy for operations offshore Norway.

The Deepsea Yantai rig – formerly known as the Beacon Atlantic – is owned by China’s CIMC and managed by the Norwegian drilling contractor Odfjell Drilling.

Neptune in August 2020 extended the contract for the Deepsea Yantai rig with three additional wells taking the rig to late 2021.

Under this deal, the rig will conduct the second drilling phase of Neptune Energy’s Fenja field development project.

In the latest update, Odfjell Drilling and CIMC Raffles announced on Thursday that Neptune Energy has extended the contract for the Deepsea Yantai with two additional wells.

This means that the rig is fully occupied through 2021, Odfjell Drilling said.

The extension is made so that the rig can conduct further work in the Dugong area where Neptune Energy successfully drilled a well with the rig during the summer of 2020.

Neptune has, in addition, the option to exercise a further eight wells under the current contract.

The Dugong discovery is located 158 kilometres west of Florø, Norway, at a water depth of 330 metres, and is close to the existing production facilities of the Snorre field. The reservoir lies at a depth of 3,250 – 3,400 metres.

The discovery was dubbed the largest oil discovery in Norway in 2020 by Neptune. According to the company, the volumes are estimated to be in the range of 40 – 120 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe).

It has also significantly de-risked another prospect in the license estimated by Neptune at 33 million boe. This brings the total resource potential in the PL882 licence, where Dugong is located, to as much as 153 million boe.

Neptune is the operator of the Dugong license with a 40 per cent ownership interest. The three partners in the licence are Concedo, Petrolia NOCO, and Idemitsu Petroleum with 20 per cent each.

As for the rig, the Deepsea Yantai is of a GM4D design. It is capable of harsh environment operation and is winterized for operation in Arctic areas.