Seadrill loses another rig contract

Offshore drilling contractor Seadrill has received another notice of termination for convenience, this time from the oil company Statoil and related to the contract for the West Hercules semi-sub rig. 

Seadrill also recently got a notice of termination for a drillship contract it had with ExxonMobil. The rig’s contract with ExxonMobil in Nigeria was to expire in April 2017.

According to Seadrill, the 2008-built West Hercules was originally contracted for drilling in Norway with North Atlantic Drilling Limited (NADL).

NADL is a harsh environment drilling contractor and Seadrill’s subsidiary who took over management of the rig in 2012.

On contract with Statoil since January 31, 2013, the rig has carried out an exploration campaign offshore Newfoundland in Canada for the past 18 months. The contract for West Hercules was originally to expire on January 31, 2017.

According to the original plan, the Aasta Hansteen licence was to take over the rig in the second quarter of 2016 for a drilling campaign to be started around July 1, 2016.

In the autumn of 2015, it was decided to postpone the Aasta Hansteen field start-up one year until the last half of 2018, and consequently the field drilling programme will also be postponed. One of the reasons is that it is not preferable to complete the wells too early before production start-up, Statoil explained on Monday.

In accordance with the contract, Seadrill will receive a lump sum payment of approximately $61 million, plus dayrate and reimbursement of costs associated with demobilization of the rig which is currently being marketed for new work, Seadrill said.

West Hercules is an ultra-deepwater harsh environment semi-submersible drilling rig built by South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME).

Offshore Energy Today Staff