Offshore drilling contractor Noble Corporation has secured a contract from Equinor to drill three wells at the Valemon field from mid-next year.
These wells will be drilled using the ‘Noble Lloyd Noble’ drilling rig.
Equinor noted that the contract includes an option for drilling one extra well at the field, as well as 11 wells that are not part of the same licence.
The total value of the day rates for the contract’s fixed part is valued at $51m.
Equinor drilling and well operations senior vice-president Erik G Kirkemo said: “We are very pleased with the job this rig has done for us at the Mariner field off the coast of Scotland, in particular the safety culture.
“With strong onboard leadership, they have embedded best practice for safety and have not had any incidents so far in 2020. Through good planning and collaboration, they have achieved strong operational results close to what we define as a perfect well.”
The Valemon drilling programme is expected to take around 230 days.
Equinor is the operator of the Valemon licence with a 66.78% interest. Other stakeholders include Petoro (30%) and Shell (3.23%).
Dubbed the world’s tallest jack-up rig, Noble Lloyd Noble will be able to operate in a water depth of up to 150m in adverse environmental conditions.
Equinor chief procurement officer Peggy Krantz-Underland said: “Equinor is exploring new ways of working with suppliers to increase efficiency and create value together. Long-term collaboration with suppliers who deliver on our expectations is an important element in that respect.
“This way we reward safe and efficient deliveries and keep building on experience and improvement results achieved in past projects.”
