Statoil Awards IDS Contract to Baker Hughes

Norwegian oil major Statoil announced Tuesday that it has awarded oilfield services firm Baker Hughes a contract to supply integrated drilling services for 25 fields on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

Statoil said in a statement that Baker Hughes' involvement will help it meet its expectations for enhanced drilling performance and service quality.

The $500 million-plus contract will cover the delivery of directional drilling, measurement-while-drilling, logging-while-drilling, mud logging, including 24/7 onshore support and drilling engineering services.

"The agreement contributes to the development of improved drilling efficiency which will ensure cost-efficient drilling through focus on the quality of tools, services and personnel," said Statoil head of drilling and wells Øystein Arvid Håland in a statement.

Baker Hughes is already established at several locations throughout Norway, including Stavanger, Gulen, Bergen, Kristiansund and Sandnessjøen. In February this year it completed a merger between its operations in the country and domestic oilfield services firms BJ Services and BJ Process & Pipeline Services.

The merger led to a threatened strike as workers who were transferred to Baker Hughes complained about reduced workers' benefits, although the strike was called off in June.

Despite this, Statoil is confident that Baker Hughes can deliver.

"If we are going to achieve our long-term production goals, we must drill more cost-efficient wells. Hence we need to improve drilling progress and reduce downtime during operation. By awarding the agreement to Baker Hughes, Statoil will benefit from their proven technical expertise and extensive experience on the NCS and we look forward to continuing our long standing relationship with this supplier," added Arvid Håland.

The deal also focuses on integrated operations – a Baker Hughes' specialty.

"Work processes with integrated operations are a way of sharing the knowledge between offshore personnel, experts onshore, our own management and our suppliers during operations," said Bente Aleksandersen, Statoil senior vice president for development and production operations in Norway. 

"Baker Hughes has been awarded the agreement because they supplied the best combined technical and commercial offer. Their IO experience is a part of this. This will lead to a considerable increase in the current workload for the supplier. And we are pleased to see that contracts with Statoil generate positive spin-offs and local content where our operations are."

A former engineer, Jon is an award-winning editor who has covered the technology, engineering and energy sectors since the mid-1990s. Email Jon at jmainwaring@rigzone.com.

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