Shell in early termination of jack-up rig contract in Brunei

November 9, 2020, by Nermina Kulovic

Oil major Shell has terminated early its contract for the Aban Offshore-owned jack-up drilling rig operating for the company in Brunei.

For illustration purposes - Aban Offshore's Deep Driller 8; Source: Keppel

Back in July 2017, Shell awarded a five-year contract plus options to Aban Offshore’s jack-up rig Deep Driller 5 (DD5).

The contract was for a firm period of five years followed by three optional periods of one year each.

However, Aban Offshore said in an update last week that Shell had exercised its right of early termination for convenience, effective the last week of December 2020.

Aban Offshore noted that the early termination fee as per the contract will be paid to the company.

The Deep Driller 5 rig is of a KFELS Super B Class design built in 2007 by Keppel FELS in Singapore.

The rig is capable of operations in high temperature and high-pressure wells and is capable of drilling up to 35,000 feet in ultra-deep wells under harsh conditions.