TotalEnergies Picks Maersk Rig For Offshore Work

Offshore drilling firm Maersk Drilling has won a contract with the Danish arm of French major TotalEnergies for one of its jack-up drilling rigs.

Maersk Drilling said that the rig in question was the Maersk Reacher. According to the company, the jack-up was hired for well intervention services.

The contract is expected to start in July 2022, with an expected duration of 21 months. The contract includes options to extend the duration by up to 27 additional months.

This contract for the Maersk Reacher came only days after Norwegian oil firm Aker BP decided to replace the Maersk Reacher with the Maersk Integrator offshore Norway at the end of February or early March 2022. Maersk Integrator will be prepared for well intervention and stimulation activities at Aker BP's Valhall and Hod fields.

The extended scope of work for the Maersk Integrator added $29 million to Maersk Drilling’s backlog. To remind, Maersk Drilling and Aker BP agreed for the offshore driller to be the oil firm’s jack-up rig drilling partner. The deal between the two companies is for five years and has a combined total contract value of approximately $1 billion.

“We’re happy to build further on our long-standing collaboration with TotalEnergies by adding this long-term contract which means that two of our rigs will be working for TotalEnergies in Danish waters this year,” Claus Bachmann, Head of the North Sea Division in Maersk Drilling, said.

“Maersk Reacher will be available for the job after being released from its current work scope in Norway through the planned rig swap with Maersk Integrator,” he added.

Maersk Reacher is a 350ft, Gusto-engineered MSC CJ50 jack-up rig delivered in 2009. Before starting its contract with TotalEnergies, Maersk Reacher will undergo a special periodic survey.

It is worth reminding that TotalEnergies recently exercised an option for one additional well in Block 58 offshore Suriname which was added to the Maersk Valiant drillship’s work scope.

To contact the author, email bojan.lepic@rigzone.com