BP kicks off seven-year drilling program west of Shetland
LONDON -- BP, on behalf of the Schiehallion co-venturers Shell and OMV, has announced the start of drilling on Loyal field by the new-build, semisubmersible Deepsea Aberdeen, marking the start of a seven-year drilling campaign west of Shetland.
Deepsea Aberdeen is contracted to drill wells across Schiehallion and Loyal fields, as part of the Quad204 development.
The sixth-generation, dual derrick rig is the newest addition in Odfjell Drilling’s fleet of mobile offshore drilling units. It has been designed to the highest international safety standards to operate in harsh environments, carrying out ultra-deepwater drilling in depths of up to 3,000 m.
The Deepsea Aberdeen will initially drill two producer wells and one injector well on Loyal, before moving onto Schiehallion to continue drilling activities. Five wells are planned to be drilled prior to first oil from the new Glen Lyon FPSO vessel at the end of 2016.
“This marks an exciting and important milestone for both the Quad 204 project and our wider North Sea business. The drilling campaign not only demonstrates our commitment to the Region in what is a challenging time, but will also help maximize production from Schiehallion and Loyal, contributing to the long term competitiveness of BP’s North Sea business,” Trevor Garlick, regional president for BP’s North Sea business, said.
The Deepsea Aberdeen will be operated from Odfjell Drilling’s office in Aberdeen.
“The start of drilling operations on Deepsea Aberdeen marks another step in the development of Odfjell Drilling’s activities in the UK and harsh environment offshore regions. The rig design is based on our more than 40 years’ experience of drilling in the North Sea. Our offshore crew and our onshore organization in Scotland are looking forward to working collaboratively with BP over the next seven years on the Quad 204 development,” Odfjell Drilling CEO Simen Lieungh said.
BP (operator) and Shell each have a 50% ownership interest in Loyal field. The Schiehallion field ownership interest is split between BP (operator) with 33.35%; OMV (11.76%); and Shell (54.89%).
