Contract signed for Maersk Discoverer to drill Egypt well

Denmark-based Maersk Drilling has secured a one-well drilling contract for the Maersk Discoverer offshore Egypt, worth $3.8m.

The contract will start this month, lasting 21 days. The semi-submersible rig Maersk Discoverer will carry out operations.

According to the drilling rig operator, the contract is a direct continuation of the rig’s current contract.

Maersk Drilling COO Morten Kelstrup said: “We’re pleased to add this additional well, which firms up Maersk Discoverer’s schedule for 2020, meaning that the rig will have no idle time before moving to the Caribbean later this year.”

When it completes drilling of the additional Egyptian well, the rig will perform its scheduled Special Periodic Survey (SPS). This involves detailed structural investigation and various inspections to the rig. The rig will then move to Trinidad and Tobago.

Delivered in 2009, the Maersk Discoverer is a DSS-21 self-propelled A1 column-stabilised, dynamically positioned deep-water rig. Maersk Drilling received three DSS-21 rigs from Keppel FELS, of which the Discoverer is the second.

The rig can operate in water depths of up to 10,000ft and can drill to a maximum depth of 32,800ft. It features a 15,000psi blowout prevention (BOP) system, dual pipe handling system and Favelle Favco deck crane.

It also features a 3.5t pipe handling knuckle boom crane, four Wirth 14-P-2200 7500psi triplex mud pumps, and can accommodate 180 people.

In January this year, Aker BP awarded a two-well contract extension to Maersk for its Integrator ultra-harsh environment jack-up rig.

In November last year, the company secured a one-well contract for the ultra-harsh environment jack-up rig Maersk Interceptor.