Rig: West Linus

'West Linus' lined up to complete wells on Ekofisk

ConocoPhillips Skandinavia AS (COPSAS) has received consent to use the ‘West Linus’ jack-up drilling facility for drilling and completion of wells at Ekofisk 2/4-ZZ. The Ekofisk field was discovered in 1969 and is the oldest of the oil and gas fields in production on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The field is situated around 280 km south-west of Stavanger. Water depth is around 73 metres. West Linus received Acknowledgement of Compliance on 25 May 2014.

'West Linus' unit compliant in Norway

North Atlantic Drilling Limited’s (NADL) jack-up rig ‘West Linus’ has received the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway's Acknowledgement of Compliance (AoC). ‘West Linus’ and relevant parts of NADL Management AS’s organisation and management systems are considered to be in compliance with relevant regulatory requirements for petroleum activities. The validity of this Acknowledgement of Compliance assumes that NADL ensures that the facility and relevant parts of the company’s organisation and management systems are maintained, so to fulfil terms and conditions set out in the PSA’s decision.

North Atlantic Drilling completes sale and leaseback of newbuild jackup

North Atlantic Drilling (NADL) today announced that the company has completed the sale and leaseback of the company’s newbuild ‘West Linus’ jackup rig in deal struck with Ship Finance International Limited, another company owned by NADL’s majority shareholder John Fredriksen. The total deal is worth US$600 million, with the ‘West Linus’ being chartered by NADL for an initial 15 year term beginning from the delivery of the unit from the yard. NADL will also have the option to buy the unit back for a set price of US$380 million after the first five years of operation. The unit will continue to be recognised as an asset of NADL’s balance sheet instead of Ship Finance’s.