Rig: Deepsea Aberdeen

BP confirms start of Quad 204 drilling programme

BP, on behalf of the Schiehallion co-venturers Shell and OMV, is pleased to announce the start of drilling on the Loyal field by the newbuild, semi-submersible Deepsea Aberdeen, marking the start of a seven year drilling campaign west of Shetland. Deepsea Aberdeen is contracted to drill wells across the 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 up to 3,000m. 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 floating, production, storage and offload (FPSO) vessel at the end of 2016.

'Deepsea Aberdeen' begins drilling contract on Quad 204 field development

Odfjell Drilling has announced that today, the Deepsea Aberdeen semisub commenced drilling operations under its 7-year contract with BP on the Quad 204 field development project West of Shetland, UK. Deepsea Aberdeen is the latest addition to Odfjell Drilling’s fleet of ultra-deepwater and harsh environment mobile offshore drilling units. The rig was delivered from the DSME yard in South Korea in November 2014. The start of drilling operations of 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 organisation in UK are looking forward to working collaboratively with BP over the next seven years on the Quad 204 development, says CEO of Odfjell Drilling, Simen Lieungh.

Odfjell Drilling takes delivery of 'Deepsea Aberdeen'

Odfjell Drilling has today taken delivery of Deepsea Aberdeen from Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) in Korea. “We are pleased to take delivery of Deepsea Aberdeen. The rig is an important contribution to our fleet and operations and we are well prepared to ensure a safe and efficient commencement of operations for BP West of Shetland, says CEO Simen Lieungh”. Deepsea Aberdeen is the latest addition to Odfjell Drilling’s fleet of harsh environment and ultra-deepwater drilling units. The semi-submersible is of same design and incorporates the excellent operational performance as Deepsea Atlantic and Deepsea Stavanger. Deepsea Aberdeen will now start on its voyage to West of Shetland for its 7-year contract with BP. Commencement on drilling operations is expected to take place in second half of Q1 2015.

'Deepsea Aberdeen' named in South Korea

The naming ceremony for the ‘Deepsea Aberdeen’ semisub was celebrated on 25th June. Mrs Karen Jones representing BP, the lady sponsor of the new ultra deepwater drilling unit bestowed good luck for the rig and its crew. I am grateful for, and value, the attitudes and efforts I have experienced in meetings with DSME and the key contractors at the yard. They have done an enormous effort, states Simen Lieungh, CEO of Odfjell Drilling. The unit will roll out for sea trials from July- August 2014. Odfjell Drilling is expected to take delivery of ‘Deepsea Aberdeen’ in October/ November 2014. From Okpo in South Korea ‘Deepsea Aberdeen’ will sail to Singapore and Mauritius, Cape Town and Las Palmas before the rig’s first long trip finally ends West of Shetland to start up drilling operations for BP in Q1 2015. ‘Deepsea Aberdeen’ is a sixth generation ultra deepwater and harsh environment semisubmersible of enhanced GVA 7500 design. The semisubmersible will perform drilling operations West of Shetland under a seven-year contract with BP.

Odfjell Drilling announces revised delivery date for 'Deepsea Aberdeen'

Following on from the incident involving water ingress in the pontoons in December 2013, the ‘Deepsea Aberdeen’ has been successfully recovered. Construction activities have resumed and are continuing as normal however, due to the incident a revised delivery schedule has been worked out for the unit with delivery now expected to occur in October or November 2014. This revised delivery schedule means that the unit will now not commence its contract with BP in the UK North Sea until during Q1 2015 and has added an additional US$10 million to the construction cost for the rig.