Maersk Drilling and Petrogas E&P Netherlands B.V. have agreed to an amendment of the previously entered contract for the provisioning of the harsh-environment jack-up rig Maersk Resolute, under which an option included in that contract will be replaced by a newly entered five-well drilling contract which will employ Maersk Resolute to drill three wells at the A15 field and two wells at the B10 field, both of which are located offshore the Netherlands.

Maersk Drilling has secured a contract from Shell UK Ltd for the provision of the harsh-environment jack-up rig Maersk Resilient for the drilling of the Pensacola well in the UK sector of the North Sea. The contract is expected to commence in the second half of 2022, in direct continuation of the rig’s previous work scope with Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (NAM), with an estimated duration of approximately two months.

TotalEnergies E&P Suriname, Suriname Branch has exercised an option to add the drilling of one additional well in Block 58 offshore Suriname to the work scope of the drillship Maersk Valiant.

Benthic, a product and service line brand within Acteon’s Geo-services segment, is launching the next generation of its portable, remotely operated drill: PROD5. To increase productivity and cut costs for the offshore renewable energy industry, PROD5 has radical new functionality, including nearly double the tool load of previous systems and a drill enhancement package (DEP). First deployment is expected in Q3 2022.

Claxton, the lead brand for Acteon’s drilling and decommissioning segment, has signed an agreement with Oceaneering to acquire decommissioning personnel and assets from them. From the anticipated closure date of 30 March 2022, certain Oceaneering staff based in Norway will transfer to Claxton, along with decommissioning assets including well and pile abrasive cutting and recovery systems and associated tooling. Conductor drilling, pinning and cutting systems, diamond wire saws, dredges and various ancillary equipment items are also included in the deal. The equipment will initially be deployed from Acteon’s bases in Norway, Dubai (UAE) and Aberdeen (UK).

The first Southwark development well was expected to spud by the weekend of 18-19 December, following the repair of the Noble Hans Deul rig. Having initially anticipated a minor delay, owing to repeated technical issues with the underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV), it has not yet been possible to safely spud the well.

The Drilling Company of 1972 A/S (“Maersk Drilling”) today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to combine with Noble Corporation (“Noble”) in a primarily all-stock transaction. The combined company will be named Noble Corporation, and its shares will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Copenhagen. The transaction is targeted to close in mid-2022.

In extension of its commitment to participating in Phase 2 of the Greensand offshore carbon storage project, Maersk Drilling has entered a framework agreement with the Nini Joint Venture, operated by INEOS Oil & Gas Denmark and Wintershall Dea, covering the supply of drilling rigs for the project offshore Denmark. The agreement confirms Maersk Drilling as the preferred contractor with a right to all drilling rig work involved in Project Greensand on market-rate terms until the end of 2027. The agreement is subject to the project obtaining the necessary funding and final investment decision.

Equinor has awarded COSL Offshore Management AS a contract to drill four wells on Statfjord Øst with the COSLPromoter rig from the spring of 2023. In addition, the rig has options for drilling five wells for Statfjord satellites afterwards.

Equinor Energy AS has exercised an option to add additional well intervention work to the previously agreed work scope for the low-emission jack-up rig Maersk Intrepid at the Martin Linge field offshore Norway. The added well intervention scope has a firm duration of 31 days, which means that the rig is now contracted until February 2022. The firm value of the contract extension is approximately USD 10.5m, including integrated services but excluding potential performance bonuses.

Saipem signed a bareboat charter contract with the Samsung Heavy Industries Company yards for a new drillship, the Samsung Santorini which will be delivered in November 2021. The bareboat charter of about two years duration allows Saipem to strengthen the competitiveness of its fleet without investing in new assets, but by leveraging its consolidated expertise in the selection and management of technologically advanced vessels. The contract with Samsung still provides for the option to purchase the ship, which can be exercised at the discretion of Saipem depending on the trend of demand.

The plan for development and operation (PDO) of the Breidablikk field in the North Sea has been approved by Norwegian authorities. Field investments are approximately NOK 18.6 billion. Production from the field is scheduled to start in the first half of 2024.

Saipem has been awarded by Wintershall Dea Norge a contract for the drilling campaign of six wells plus options to drill additional wells in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. Operations, which are expected to start in the fourth quarter of 2021, will be performed by the semi-submersible rig Scarabeo 8, a drilling unit designed to be “zero pollution and zero discharge” and equipped for operations in harsh environments.

Benthic, a global geosciences company and part of the geo-services segment within marine energy and infrastructure services group Acteon, has provided Santos with geotechnical site investigation services at the Dorado field off the coast of Western Australia.

Maersk Drilling has secured a contract from INEOS Oil & Gas UK to employ the harsh-environment jack-up rig Maersk Resolve for drilling and hydraulic stimulation at the Breagh Alpha A11 well in block 42/13 of the UK North Sea. The contract is expected to commence in Q3 2021, in direct continuation of the rig’s current work scope, with an estimated duration of 140 days. The contract value is approximately USD 11.3m. The contract includes four additional one-well options.

Maersk Drilling has sold the jack-up rig Maersk Guardian (now named Guardian) to New Fortress Energy, and the parties have further entered into an agreement about the sale of the jack-up rig Mærsk Gallant with anticipated closing in June 2021. The total sales price for the two rigs is USD 31m in all-cash transactions.

Total E&P Suriname, Suriname Branch has exercised an option to add the drilling of one additional appraisal well in Suriname’s Block 58 to the work scope of the semi-submersible rig Mærsk Developer. The contract extension has an estimated duration of 100 days, with work expected to commence in end-May 2021 in direct continuation of the rig’s previously agreed work scope. The contract value of the extension is approximately USD 20m, including integrated services provided.

Maersk Drilling has been awarded a one-well contract by CGX Resources Inc., operator and joint venture partner with Frontera Energy Guyana Corp, for the semi-submersible rig Maersk Discoverer to perform exploration drilling in the Corentyne Block offshore Guyana. The contract has an estimated duration of 75-85 days and is expected to commence in third quarter 2021, in direct continuation of the rig’s current work scope. The contract contains one firm-well in the Corentyne Block and one optional well for the Demerara Block. The optional well has an estimated duration of 40 days. Maersk Drilling and CGX are in discussions to add additional services and performance incentives to the scope.