Spirit Energy hires Maersk rig for North Sea well

Offshore drilling contractor Maersk Drilling has been awarded a contract from Spirit Energy for the harsh-environment jack-up rig Maersk Resolve to drill one development well at Grove North East in the UK North Sea.

The contract is expected to start in March 2021, with an estimated duration of 131 days.

The firm contract value is approximately $11.3m, including additional services, mobilisation and demobilisation.

The contract includes an option to add plugging and abandonment of one well.

Maersk Resolve is a 350ft, Gusto-engineered MSC CJ50 high-efficiency jack-up rig which was delivered in 2009.

The rig completed a campaign offshore the Netherlands in October 2020 and is currently warm-stacked in Esbjerg, Denmark.

Morten Kelstrup, COO of Maersk Drilling, said: “We’re excited to be able to build on our relationship with Spirit Energy with our first UK well for the customer, for whom we previously completed a highly successful subsea development campaign in Norway“.

The Spirit Energy-operated Greater Markham Area (GMA) hub spans both the UK and Dutch Continental Shelves, and comprises the Markham, Chiswick, Grove, and Kew fields.

Grove and Chiswick are Normally Unmanned Installations (NUIs). Chiswick was discovered in 1984, before coming on stream in 2007. Grove was discovered in 1971 and brought on stream in 2007.

In a separate statement on Wednesday, Spirit said that, if the infill well to be drilled with the Maersk rig is a success, the life of the Grove field could be extended by five years to 2028. The goal is to start production in 3Q 2021.

Neil McCulloch, Executive Vice President, Technical & Operated Assets, at Spirit Energy, said: “The infill well is planned to target the un-appraised north-eastern limb of the Grove field and has the potential of delivering 4.2 mmboe net additional reserves. Further, it could add five new years to the life of the Grove field and improve the prospect of additional opportunities in the area”.