Rig: Scarabeo 5

Fire on “Scarabeo 5”

On Tuesday 22 November at 1730 the drilling rig Scarabeo 5 reported a fire in an engine room. There are 106 personnel on board, all have been accounted for and no-one has been reported missing. Fire extinguishing is being carried out on the rig, which is located at the Njord field in the Norwegian Sea. The public rescue services and the authorities have been notified of the situation. Statoil’s emergency preparedness organisation has been mobilised and resources are being assembled to handle the incident. Personnel without emergency duties have been mustered to the lifeboat stations and preparations are being made to evacuate them by helicopter. No drilling operations were underway at the time of the incident. There are no other installations on the Njord field at the present time. A supply vessel is at the field and several more are underway. “Scarabeo 5” is a drilling rig operated by Saipem Norwegian Branch. Updates will be published on our website and via our news service.

Fire on Scarabeo 5 put out

On Tuesday 22 November at 1730 the drilling rig Scarabeo 5 reported a fire in one engine room. Around 20:30 the fire was reported put out. There were 106 persons on board when the incident occurred; all of them are accounted for and none are missing. One person will be sent ashore for a medical check. 33 persons have been transported from the rig by helicopter. 14 of these were flown to a nearby installation and 19 to shore in Kristiansund. 73 persons remained on board and there are no plans currently to move more people from the rig. Work is under way to achieve normalization. Scarabeo 5 is currently located at the Njord-field in the Norwegian Sea. No drilling operations were underway when the incident occurred. The rig is equipped with two engine rooms and a total of eight engines. The standby vessels Ocean Response and Troms Sirius assisted the drilling rig. Three helicopters were in operation in connection with the incident. There are no other installations currently at the Njord field. Statoil’s second and third-line response organization has been mobilized to assist with the incident.

Consent to use Scarabeo 5 at Njord

Statoil has received consent to use Scarabeo 5 for well activities on the Njord field. Statoil is the operator at Njord, an oil field in the Norwegian Sea, located around 130 kilometres north of Kristiansund. The Njord field has been developed using a semi-submersible drilling, accommodation and production facility, Njord A, and the Njord B FSU. Water depth at the site is 330 metres. Production on the field began in 1997. The PSA has now granted Statoil consent to use Scarabeo 5 for various well activities associated with production wells on the field. The activities are scheduled to begin on 10 November 2016. Scarabeo 5 is a semi-submersible drilling facility of the ME 4500 type, built by Fincantieri in Genoa in 1990. It is registered in the Bahamas and classified by RINA/ABS. Scarabeo 5 was issued with an Acknowledgement of Compliance (AoC) by the PSA in May 2003.

Statoil suspends 'Scarabeo 5' rig contract

Statoil Petroleum AS (“Statoil”) has decided to suspend the contract associated with the Scarabeo 5 semisub due to overcapacity in its rig portfolio. The suspension will take effect once Scarabeo 5 has completed drilling a well on the Kristin field in the middle of August, and will last until 1st March 2016. Jon Arnt Jacobsen, senior vice president of Procurement at Statoil said, “We regret the need to suspend Scarabeo 5, but we will do our utmost to resume our drilling operations earlier than planned at the time of suspending the rig”. This is the second time that Statoil has suspended the contract for the Scarabeo 5 following the suspension that ran form August 2014 until February 2015. Statoil did not announce any details to do with the potential percentage of its current charter rate that the unit will receive whilst under suspension.

'Scarabeo 5' set to complete well 7121/4-G-4 H

The Petroleum Safety Authority (“PSA”) has given Statoil consent to use the Scarabeo 5 mobile drilling facility for drilling and completing well 7121/4-G-4 H. Scarabeo 5 is a type ME 4500 mobile drilling facility and was built by Fincantieri Shipyards in Genoa, Italy in 1990. It is operated by Saipem Norwegian Branch (“Saipem”). It is registered in the Bahamas and classified by ABS. Scarabeo 5 was issued with an Acknowledgement of Compliance (AoC) by the PSA in May 2003. Snøhvit is in the Barents Sea in the central part of the Hammerfest Basin, in 310 to 340 metres of water. Snøhvit is a gas field with condensate and an underlying thin oil zone. The Snøhvit Unit comprises the Snøhvit, Albatross and Askeladd structures. The approved PDO for the gas resources includes subsea templates for 19 production wells and one injection well for CO2.

Statoil to plug Kristin field well

Statoil has received consent to use Scarabeo 5 for permanent plugging of well 6506/11-N-4 H on the Kristin field. Statoil has allocated up to 27 days for the activity, which will start in mid-May 2015. Water depth at the site is 367 metres. Scarabeo 5 is a type ME 4500 drilling facility and was built at the Fincantieri Shipyard in Genoa, Italy in 1990. It is operated by Saipem Norwegian Branch (Saipem). It is registered in the Bahamas and classified by ABS.

Suspension of 'Scarabeo 5' set to end following new PSA approval

Statoil has received consent to use Scarabeo 5 for plugging and production drilling. Statoil is the operator of the Kristin field, which is in blocks 6406/2 and 6506/11 at Haltenbanken in the Norwegian Sea. Statoil will plug well 6406/2-R-4 BHT2 permanently and simultaneously drill a new production well as a sidetrack from the well being plugged. The new production well will be designated 6406/2-R-4-CH. Water depth at the site is 355 metres and the combined activities are estimated to last 138 days.

Statoil set to suspend 'Scarabeo 5' contract

Owing to overcapacity in its rig portfolio, Statoil will suspend its contract with Saipem for the rig ‘Scarabeo 5’ from the autumn of 2014, provisionally for the remainder of the year. This means that ‘Scarabeo 5’ will be laid up for a brief period. Statoil is planning to re-commission the rig after the turn of the year. The rig is currently engaged in operations on Visund and is scheduled to complete its work there in August. The period for which the rig is being taken out of operation is equivalent to less than 3 % of Statoil’s drilling capacity on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) this year. “We subject our rig portfolio to continuous assessment, so that we are sure of having the right rig on the right job at all times,” says Tore Aarreberg, head of rig procurement. “We are planning for the rig to be in operation again after the turn of the year. We are pleased with Saipem as a supplier. They help us reach our goals, and we have a good cooperation with the supplier.” The rig is on contract until 2017 and will be used for the drilling and completion of production wells on various NCS fields, thus boosting recovery from existing fields. Taking ‘Scarabeo 5’ out of commission for a brief period will not affect Statoil’s production targets or planned exploration activities on the NCS. In 2014 the company will still be drilling 20-25 exploration wells on the NCS. Out of these 20-25, Statoil will be the operator of approximately two-thirds of the wells.

Statoil given go ahead to spud Erlend prospect

The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway has granted Statoil consent to use ‘Scarabeo 5’ for plugging well 6406/2-7-1 in the Norwegian Sea. The purpose of the operation is to carry out permanent plugging of exploration well 6406/2-7. The operation is planned to start in July 2014 with an expected duration of 47 days. Water depth at the site is around 293 metres and it is 6390 metres from the nearest installation, the Kristin Q Flowline. ‘Scarabeo 5’ is a mobile drilling facility built in Italy at Fincantieri Shipyards in Genoa, and completed in 1990. It is operated by Saipem Norwegian Branch (Saipem). The facility received Acknowledgement of Compliance (AoC) in May 2003.

Lower rig hire rates

The contracts have been signed with Diamond Offshore for the hire of Ocean Vanguard and with Saipem for the hire of the rig Scarabeo 5. “In December last year we announced that we expected the market to revert to the lower 2006 level and now it has responded to our expectations. We are pleased to have gained more reasonably priced rig capacity so that we can further develop the shelf,” says Anders Opedal, Statoil’s senior vice president for Procurement. The Ocean Vanguard deal is valued at USD 382 million. It has duration of three years with a one-year option. The deal for Scarabeo 5 is valued at USD 437 million and also has a three-year duration and one-year option. These rates set a new price level for rigs in the exploration and completion segment. “The two rigs are well known for their contributions to our operations on the shelf. The flexibility provided by these rigs in terms of conventional drilling, completion, high pressure, high temperatures and deep water are in line with our plans for exploration and production in the future,” says Øystein Michelsen, Statoil’s executive vice president for Exploration & Production Norway.

First Kristin producer spudded

The first production well for Statoil’s Kristin development in the Norwegian Sea, which was spudded on 3 August, faces very challenging reservoir conditions. With a pressure of 910 bar and a temperature of 170°C, this field ranks as the most extreme on the Norwegian continental shelf in terms of these two parameters. ”We’ve given great weight to using in-house experience and expertise in meeting these challenges and doing the job in a safe and secure manner,” says drilling operations head Severin Longva. ”Experience has also been secured from other companies, and we’ve prepared a special high pressure/high temperature (HPHT) manual. ”Eighty people in key positions on the Scarabeo 5 drilling rig and at the operations office have taken a Kristin-specific HPHT course.” Owned by Saipem, the rig arrived on 1 August to start preparations for drilling and completing the first well, designated 6406/2-S-3H. It has been chartered for 36 months. A total of 12 wells are due to be drilled and completed on the gas and condensate field before production starts on 1 October 2005. Four subsea templates installed on Kristin will be tied back to a floating production platform. Plans call for the use of two rigs to drill the producers, with West Alpha scheduled to arrive later this year. Apart from Statoil, with 46.6 per cent, the Kristin licensees are Petoro with 18.9 per cent, Norsk Hydro 12 per cent, ExxonMobil 10.5 per cent, Norsk Agip nine per cent and Total three per cent.

Solsikke well dry

Hydro has finished drilling its Solsikke well in the Norwegian Sea without finding hydrocarbons. Solsikke lies on license 253 in the Norwegian Sea some 200 kilometers off the north-west coast of Norway at a sea depth of about 1,800 meters. Exploration well 6403/10-1 was drilled by the rig "Scarabeo 5" to test out a geological model in the western part of the Møre Basin. The well was drilled as planned to a total depth of 3,400 meters into a section of rock from the Cretaceous Age. "The drilling operation's two targeted main reservoir intervals were both penetrated. No mobile hydrocarbons were proven in the well," the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said in press release on Wednesday. When total depth is reached, the exploration well will be permanently plugged and abandoned.

Solsikke drilling delayed due to strike

Exploration drilling on the Solsikke license in the Norwegian offshore sector has been delayed one month due to a recent oil services workers strike that upset drilling rig schedules. The Solsikke license was awarded to Hydro in concession round 16 in 2000. The prospect is considered one of the most interesting in the Norwegian oil sector and may hold enormous volumes of natural gas. The Solsikke license consists of four blocks. One of them will be drilled by the drilling rig "Scarabeo 5" at the start of October. The block, located some 100 kilometers west of the Ormen Lange gas field, has a record deep water deth of 1,700 to 1,800 meters. This summer's five-week long, recently settled oil services workers strike by the Norwegian Oil and Petrochemicals Workers Union (Nopef), as well as important tasks on the Tampen offshore license in the North Sea have contributed to delaying the start of exploration drilling on Solsikke to the first half of October.

Scarabeo 5 to Kristin

On behalf of the Kristin licensees in the Norwegian Sea, operator Statoil has entered into an agreement with Saipem SpA for the hire of the Scarabeo 5 drilling rig for 36 months. The total value of the contract is NOK 1,280 million. "Scarabeo 5 has the capacity to perform both drilling and completion operations and is a good rig for Kristin," reports Bengt Rasmussen, drilling manager on Kristin. The rig will however require some upgrading and a five-year class certificate before commencing drilling operations on 1 April 2003. Scarabeo 5 was built in Italy in 1990 and has been operating on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) since delivery from the shipyard. The pressure and temperature are both higher on the Kristin gas and condensate field than on any other field to be developed on the NCS. There has therefore been an increased focus on health, safety and the environment in the bidding process. The licensees in Kristin are Statoil with 46.6 per cent, Petoro (18.9 per cent), Norsk Hydro (12 per cent), ExxonMobil (10.5 per cent), Agip (9 per cent) and TotalFinaElf (3 per cent).

Oil find near Kristin

Oil has been found by Statoil with exploration well 6506/11-7 in the M structure of production licence 134B, about 10 kilometres north of its Kristin field in the Norwegian Sea. “This discovery is important for understanding and developing the area,” says Ørjan Birkeland, manager of the Halten/Nordland exploration sector. “It’ll also be significant for future exploration.” Saipem’s Scarabeo 5 drilled the well to a total depth of 4,942 metres below sea level in 356 metres of water, and encountered oil under high pressure in Jurassic sandstones. More than 100 metres of cores have been retrieved, and extensive logging carried out. A production test of the discovery recovered light oil from two different reservoir levels. The well was spudded on 15 January, and the rig is due to leave the site at the end of July. Apart from Statoil, with 48 per cent, licensees in the acreage are Agip (30 per cent), Norsk Hydro (12 per cent) and TotalFinaElf (10 per cent). See the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate's press release (in Norwegian only).

Drilling north of Kristin

An exploration well is being drilled for Statoil by Scarabeo 5 north of the group’s Kristin field in the Norwegian Sea. Targeted at a separate structure in the 134 B licence, this operation aims to check whether gas and condensate are present. It is due to take 96 days to reach a depth of 5,000 metres. “The results of this well could be significant for further development of Kristin,” comments sector manager Ørjan Birkeland. Before the Saipem-operated rig laid a course for the Norwegian Sea, it was upgraded to drill for Statoil and Shell in structures with high temperature and pressure. Shell is due to use the unit later on a well which has similarities with the current operation.