Stena Drilling finds new gigs for two rigs

Offshore drilling contractor Stena Drilling has won two new contracts, one for a semi-submersible rig in Ireland and the other for a drillship in Suriname.

Stena Drilling said via its social media channels on Tuesday that it had signed a new contract with Tullow Oil for the Stena Forth drillship to drill one well in Block 47, offshore Suriname.

The Block 47 forms part of the Suriname-Guyana Basin, which is located approximately 260 km north of the coast of Suriname.

The rig owner said that Stena Forth will mobilise to Suriname in late December 2020 or early January 2021 with a planned campaign start in January or February 2021.

As previously reported, Tullow’s Suriname well was initially supposed to be drilled in 2020 but it has been delayed.

Tullow said back in July that the drilling of the Goliathberg-Voltzberg North prospect (GVN-1) in Block 47 would be done in the first quarter of 2021.

The Goliathberg-Voltzberg North prospect lies approximately 260 kilometres off the coast of Suriname.

The well will be testing dual targets in the Cretaceous turbidite play in approximately 1,900 metres of water.

It is one of a series of leads and prospects on the flank of the Demerara High.

Furthermore, Stena drilling reported it had signed a new contract with PSE Kinsale Energy for a decommissioning campaign in Ireland starting April 2021.

According to Stena, AGR Well Management is the lead contractor managing the design, supply chain, and execution of both the platform and subsea well decommissioning work scopes on behalf of PSE Kinsale Energy.

The Stena Spey semi-submersible rig has been selected to perform this work and will mobilise in 1Q next year to the Kinsale field, offshore Cork.

There are 10 wells to decommission and the work is estimated to take 180 days to complete, Stena said.

The Stena Spey is currently on contract with Dana Petroleum in the Central North Sea.

Following the completion of this campaign, the rig will go under preparations ahead of its campaign with PSE Kinsale Energy.

PSE Kinsale Energy ceased its gas production at the Kinsale area gas fields in the Celtic Sea in early July 2020, after 42 years of production.

The Kinsale field consists of two steel platforms, some 50 kilometres offshore in the Celtic Sea, installed as part of the initial field development, commissioned in 1978.

A decommissioning plan was submitted to the authorities in June 2018 and approved in April 2019.

Offshore decommissioning activities are currently underway and are expected to continue over the next two to three years.

All wells will be permanently plugged and the associated facilities – platforms, pipelines, cables, subsea structures, and the Inch onshore terminal – will be decommissioned.