Statoil suspends second rig on overcapacity

Statoil suspends second rig on overcapacity

STAVANGER, Norway -- Statoil will lay up the COSL Pioneer rig in fourth-quarter 2014 due to overcapacity in its rig portfolio. The rig is currently carrying out an assignment on the Visund field and is scheduled to complete this work at the end of September.

In July, Statoil also announced that the drilling rig Scarabeo 5 would be temporarily suspended. Scarabeo 5 will be taken out of operations at the end of September for the rest of the year.

“At the moment we have three rigs contracted from COSL Drilling Europe. Our offshore organization enjoys excellent cooperation with the contractor’s drilling teams, and COSL Pioneer has demonstrated consistent, high efficiency in drilling operations. We are in close dialogue with the contractor concerning how the suspension of the rig will be implemented in practice, and we continue to look forward to many years of cooperation with COSL on the Norwegian shelf,” Statoil’s Tore Aarreberg said.

The rig is contracted until 2016 and will be used for drilling and completion of production wells on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

COSL Pioneer being taken out of operation for a shorter period will have no impact on Statoil’s production targets or planned exploration activity on the Norwegian shelf.

The company will still be drilling 20-25 exploration wells on the Norwegian shelf in 2014, where the company operates about two-thirds of all wells.