Norway’s energy giant Equinor has awarded a two-year firm contract to offshore drilling contractor Northern Ocean Wind AS to employ the mobile rig Deepsea Bollsta on the Norwegian continental shelf.
Deepsea Bollsta is a sixth-generation harsh environment, winterized, mobile rig. The 2020-built Deepsea Bollsta sixth-generation semi-submersible rig is of Moss CS60E design and can accommodate 140 people. The rig can carry out operations in both benign and harsh environments at water depths of up to 3,000 meters.
The contract value for the firm period is calculated at around USD 335 million, with planned start-up in the later part of 2025. The contract also includes five one-year options. The contract value does not include integrated rig services or mobilisation/demobilisation fees.
Northern Ocean Wind AS is a company owned by Northern Ocean Ltd. Deepsea Bollsta will be operated by Odfjell Drilling. They currently operate three rigs for Equinor, Deepsea Aberdeen, Deepsea Atlantic and Deepsea Stavanger. Currently, the rig is in Africa and has been drilling in Namibia but has previous track-record for operations in Norway.
“We have an ambition to maintain our production from the Norwegian continental shelf at a high level towards 2035, supplying the energy that Europe demands. Our ability to continuously drill new wells is at the heart of this. There is still a large remaining resource potential in our producing fields. We also see attractive exploration opportunities in Norway,” says Kjetil Hove, executive vice president for Exploration and Production Norway (EPN).
“We are pleased to continue our cooperation with the Odfjell Drilling, who has demonstrated a strong safety and performance culture. This will add flexible capacity to our drilling portfolio. On average we have 25 active drilling operations on the Norwegian continental shelf. Rig capacity is important for us, we plan to deliver 50-70 increased recovery wells and 20-30 exploration wells annually going forward,” says Erik Kirkemo, senior vice president for Drilling and Well.