Rig: COSLPioneer

Statoil cancels 'COSLPioneer' contract

Statoil has decided to cancel the contract for the COSLPioneer semisub before the expiry date of August 2016. COSLPioneer has been suspended since 8th October 2014 and the unit was meant to finish its suspension period in August 2015, However, Statoil has been unable to find alternative activity for the rig during the intervening period and has now firmly cancelled the contract. “We regret the need to have to cancel this contract and wish to emphasise that this is not due to how the rig has delivered,” says supply chain senior vice president, Jon Arnt Jacobsen. “COSL Pioneer and its crew have demonstrated a good safety culture and delivered efficient drilling operations to Statoil. Cancellation is a consequence of overcapacity in the rig portfolio.”

Statoil announces extension of suspended rig contracts

Due to continued overcapacity in its rig portfolio, Statoil has extended the suspension periods for COSL Pioneer, Scarabeo 5 and Songa Trym. The suspensions are also a result of the failed attempts to mature alternative tasks for the rigs. “When the rig contracts were signed it was challenging to ensure sufficient rig capacity. Today the activity is facing lower margins, a generally high cost level and subsequent lower profitability. It is therefore more demanding to mature profitable drilling targets,” says Statoil procurement head Jon Arnt Jacobsen. COSL Pioneer, Scarabeo 5 and Songa Trym were initially suspended until the end of the year from 8th October, 5th October and 20th November, respectively. COSL Pioneer will be suspended for an additional seven and a half months. The suspension periods for Scarabeo 5 and Songa Trym will be extended by one and a half months and one month, respectively. The extension period for Songa Trym may be reduced, or avoided, if acceleration of activities is achieved. “I would like to emphasise that the suspensions are not related to the rig deliveries. We are very pleased with the work they have done for us. These measures are necessary due to the overcapacity of rigs compared to the assignments we are prioritising. This situation is unfortunate, and we are doing what we can to minimise the extent of the suspensions,” Jacobsen says.

'COSLPioneer' contract to be temporarily suspended

Due to overcapacity in our rig portfolio, Statoil will lay up the ‘COSLPioneer’ rig in the fourth quarter of 2014. The rig is currently carrying out an assignment on the Visund field and is scheduled to complete this work at the end of September. “After a careful review of our drilling plan, we find it necessary to suspend ‘COSLPioneer’ for the time being,” says rig procurement responsible Tore Aarreberg. In the beginning of July Statoil also announced that the drilling rig ‘Scarabeo 5’ will 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 organisation 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,” Aarreberg says. The rig is contracted until 2016 and will be used for drilling and completion of production wells on the Norwegian continental shelf. ‘COSLPioneer’ 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.

Statoil makes gas discovery near Visund field in Norway

Statoil Petroleum AS, operator of production licence 120, has concluded the drilling of wildcat well 34/8-17 S. The well was drilled on the northeast flank of the Visund field, in the northern part of the North Sea. The well's primary exploration target was to prove petroleum on the east flank of the Visund field in Lower Jurassic reservoir rocks (the Statfjord group). The secondary exploration target was to prove petroleum in Lower Jurassic (Lower Statfjord group) and Upper Triassic reservoir rocks (the Lunde formation). The well encountered an approx. 31-metre gross gas column in the Tarbert, Ness and Etive formations in the Middle Jurassic, about 20 metres of which were in sandstones with very good reservoir quality. In the immediately underlying reservoir rocks in the Rannoch formation in the Middle Jurassic, the well encountered an approx. 21-metre petroleum column in sandstones with poor reservoir quality. Traces of petroleum were also encountered in Lower Jurassic sandstones of variable reservoir quality in the Cook formation and in the Statfjord Group. It is unclear at this time whether there is oil or gas in the Rannoch and Cook formations, and in the Statfjord group. The Lunde formation is aquiferous. Data acquisition and sampling were conducted in the well, but it was not formation-tested. Preliminary estimates place the size of the discovery at between 0.5 and 2 million Sm³ recoverable oil equivalents. The licensees in production licence 120 will consider tying this discovery to existing infrastructure in the Visund area. This is the 24th exploration well in production licence 120, which was awarded in the 10th licensing round, part A, in 1985. 34/8-17 S was drilled to a vertical depth of 3187 metres below the sea surface, and was terminated in the Lunde formation in the Upper Triassic. The water depth is 378 metres. The well will now be permanently plugged and abandoned. Well 34/8-17 S was drilled by the COSL Pioneer drilling facility, which will now drill a sidetrack to a production target in the Visund field.

Brugdan II well temporarily suspended

Statoil and its partners ExxonMobil and Atlantic Petroleum have decided to temporarily suspend operations on the Brugdan II well offshore the Faroe Islands. The Brugdan II well has drilled into the sub-basalt section, but the primary objective has not yet been reached. The decision to suspend the drilling is based on the expected bad weather as we enter the winter season. The Faroese authorities have authorised a suspension until end 2013. The well is located around 80 km offshore from the Faroe Islands and was spud in June 2012. It has been drilled with the COSL Pioneer semi-submersible rig in a water depth of around 450 meters. The Brugdan II well is the second exploration well that has been drilled in licence 006 which covers an area of approximately 579 square kilometres. Statoil has been in the Faroe Islands since 2000 and holds a significant acreage position with 6 operated licences. The licences are all sub-basalt and have a varied geology within different plays. The position in the Faroe Islands is in line with the company's exploration strategy of early access of scale and establishing a leading position in frontier areas. Statoil Færøyene AS has 50% equity in the Brugdan licence. The partners are partners ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Faroe Islands Ltd 49% and Atlantic Petroleum P/F 1%. The Brugdan II well is the 8th exploration well drilled in Faroese waters since 2001.

Small oil discovery in the Oseberg Area Unit

Statoil, together with partners in the Oseberg Area Unit, has made a small oil discovery in the production license PL053 in the North Sea. Statoil and its partners are in the process of concluding drilling operations in the exploration well 30/6-28S located in the production license PL053 in the Oseberg Area Unit. The well drilled by the rig COSL Pioneer proved an oil column of 12 metres in the Statfjord Formation. The estimated volume of the discovery is in the range of 12-18 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalents. "The oil discovery is located beneath the Oseberg field and is a good candidate to be connected to the Oseberg production facilities. These could be fast and high-value barrels for the partnership," says Knut Henrik Dalland, vice president Operations Oseberg. The oil discovery lies in the Crimp prospect, which was the secondary target for the exploration well 30/6-28S. The primary target was the Crux prospect that Statoil earlier defined as a high impact gas opportunity. With the Crux prospect Statoil tested a hypothesis for the existence of a separate gas-filled structure underlying the Oseberg field. However, the Crux prospect did not contain hydrocarbons. "The well 30/6-28S had two objectives. First, to test a new play in the area – the Crux prospect, which was a high risk / high reward opportunity. Second, to test an infrastructure-near prospect called Crimp, with relatively modest volumes but attractive economics. Unfortunately, we have not found gas in the Crux prospect, but we are pleased with the oil discovery in Crimp. Even though our high impact opportunity has not materialised, we have delivered some valuable additional resources to the Oseberg Unit," says Tore Løseth, vice president Exploration Licenses North Sea. After completion of the exploration well 30/6-28S, the COSL Pioneer drilling rig will move to the Glitne field. Exploration well 30/6-28S is situated in the production license PL053 in the Oseberg Area Unit in the North Sea. Statoil is the operator and has a 49.3 % interest. The partners are Petoro AS (33.6 %), Total E&P Norge AS (10.0 %), ExxonMobil E&P Norway AS (4.7 %) and ConocoPhillips Skandinavia AS (2.4 %).

Another discovery in the Gullfaks area

Statoil’s drilling of the Skinfaks South well in the North Sea has been completed and the estimated volume is between 1.9 and 6.9 million barrels of oil equivalents. This is the fourth infrastructure-near discovery in the Gullfaks area in a 10 month period. Light oil has been confirmed in Middle Jurassic reservoir rocks (Brent group) and a 80 metre high column in good-quality reservoir rocks. "We are currently evaluating how this discovery can be connected to the existing infra-structure," says Tore Løseth, exploration vice president for North Sea. Skinfaks South is located directly west of the Gullfaks field in the North Sea Tampen area, where Statoil is focusing on infrastructure-led exploration (ILX). "Our exploration strategy for the Norwegian continental shelf focuses both on high-impact discoveries and what we call time-critical ILX, which is exploration close to installations that within a couple of years will have the capacity to receive the oil and gas we find," Tore Løseth says. Gullfaks is a good example of how an area has developed after its first major discovery. Discovered in 1978 the Gullfaks field contained an estimated 2.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent. The discovery of fields such as Gullfaks South, Rimfaks and Valemon has later added another billion barrels of oil equivalent to the area. Statoil has continued its exploration activities around Gullfaks, and in one year four new discoveries have been made: Rutil, Opal, Brent 10 A/B and now Skinfaks South. They will add a total of 50-100 million barrels of oil equivalents. In 2012, 40% of Statoil's exploration wells on the Norwegian continental shelf will be ILX wells. ILX drilling is to be carried out close to Oseberg, Snorre and Norne.

Delivery Ceremony COSLPioneer

The COSL Project team are very happy to announce that at 15.15 p.m. today, 15th November 2010 CDE took delivery of COSLPioneer. VP Project Terje Olsen and Project Manager Karl Petter Willumsen were present during the signing cermony. The Project Management would like to thank everyone who has been part of the Construction of COSLPioneer for the efforts put into this project. This delivery completes another milestone for COSL Drilling Europe, and the Project Team wishes Lage Nordby, Jan Bergsholm and the operational team good luck with the start up of COSLPioneer.