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Equinor drills duster near its jack-up rig Maersk Integrator to drill one construction site of the Nord Stream 2 gas
Maersk Drilling said that OMV would use
pipeline in the Baltic Sea, Refinitiv Eikon
Tordis field exploration well in the Ommadawn prospect data showed on December 5.
in the production license PL 970 in the
The consortium led by Gazprom building
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) Norwegian part of the North Sea the 1,230-km pipeline said last month that
has said that Equinor, operator of production The contract is expected to start in mid- work would resume after it was suspended
licence 089, concluded the drilling of wildcat 2021, with an estimated duration of 52 days. a year ago when US sanctions targeted
well 34/7-37 S. The firm contract value is approximately companies involved in the construction.
The well was drilled about four kilometres $14.3mn, including mobilisation, but The US ambassador to Berlin called on
west of the Tordis field and about 200 km excluding integrated services provided and the German government and the EU to put a
northwest of Bergen. potential performance bonuses. temporary halt to construction work on the
The objective of the well was to prove The contract further includes an option to pipeline to send a signal to Moscow.
petroleum in reservoir rocks in the Upper add approximately 28 days of well testing. Washington says the pipeline, which has
Jurassic (the Munin segment in the Draupne The Maersk Integrator jack-up is currently become a flashpoint in relations between
Formation). undergoing a series of upgrades to combine Russia and the West that have sunk to post-
According to the NPD, Equinor did not the use of hybrid power with low levels of Cold War lows, compromises European
encounter reservoir rocks in the well and NOx emissions, adding data intelligence to energy security.
classified it as dry. Equinor did carry out further reduce energy consumption and CO2 “This pipeline is not just an economic
Data acquisition on the well. emissions, the rig owner said. project, but the Kremlin’s political tool to
This is the 42nd exploration well in The performance bonus schemes included bypass Ukraine and divide Europe,” Robin
production licence 089. The licence was in the contract with OMV are based on Quinville, acting U.S. ambassador to Berlin,
awarded in the 8th licensing round in 1984. rewarding reduced fuel consumption and told Germany’s Handelsblatt daily.
Equinor has an ownership interest of reduced NOx emissions during the drilling Eikon data showed the Russian pipe-
41.5%. Other licensees are Petoro AS (30%), operations. laying vessel has stopped north of Poland
Var Energi (16.1%), Idemitsu Petroleum Morten Kelstrup, COO of Maersk Drilling and Germany. Swiss-Dutch company Allseas
Norge (9.6%), and Wintershall Dea Norge said: “We’re pleased to add this additional suspended pipe-laying last December
(2.8%). work scope for Maersk Integrator in 2021, following the threat of sanctions from
The well was drilled to a vertical depth and to enter into a new type of collaborative Washington.
of 2,754 metres and a measured depth of contractual set-up with OMV where we will The maritime authority in the German
2,755 metres below sea level. The well was focus on aligning incentives in the planning city of Stralsund has informed shippers there
terminated in the Heather Formation in the and execution of the drilling operation which will be pipeline-laying activities from Dec. 5
Upper Jurassic. Water depth at the site is 142 again is expected to significantly reduce the through December 31 in the Baltic Sea area
metres. The well has now been plugged and uncertainty about overall well construction where Nord Stream 2 will make landfall.
abandoned. costs for our customer. It did not say when the work would be
The rig used for the drilling of well 34/7- We believe this kind of commercial model finished or how the other remaining sections
37 S was the DeepSea Atlantic, which will has the potential to increase exploration of the pipeline would be laid, adding that it
now drill the top hole in production well drilling activity in Norway and across the will name the vessel, which would lay pipes,
34/10-O-3 H in production licence 050 in North Sea. The contract further shows the later. It declined to comment further on
the northern North Sea, also operated by commercial value of our low-emission December 4.
Equinor. upgrades. By reducing fuel consumption, The $11bn Nord Stream 2 project, led
The Deepsea Atlantic is a sixth generation CO2 emissions and NOx emissions we are by Russian state energy company Gazprom
deepwater and harsh environment semi- not only making contributions towards and aimed at doubling the existing Nord
submersible rig capable of operating at water reaching emission targets, but also create Stream pipeline’s capacity, is more than 90%
depths of up to 3,000 m. value for our customer under the incentive complete.
It is worth noting that the NPD issued a schemes established in Norway.” However, the annual US defence policy
drilling permit to Equinor for the 34/7-37 S Maersk Integrator is an ultra-harsh bill unveiled by lawmakers late on December
in mid-September. The drilling programme environment CJ70 XLE jack-up rig, designed 3 contains sanctions that backers say will halt
for the well concerned the drilling of a for year-round operations in the North Sea. Nord Stream 2.
wildcat well. It was delivered in 2015. Gazprom’s western partners in the project
are Germany’s Uniper, BASF’s Wintershall
Dea, Anglo-Dutch oil major Shell, Austria’s
OMV to use Maersk Drilling Russian pipelaying vessel OMV and Engie.

rig for North Sea wildcat stops near Nord Stream 2

Austrian oil and gas company OMV has construction site
chartered a Maersk Drilling jack-up drilling
rig to drill an exploration well offshore Russian pipe-laying vessel Akademik
Norway. Cherskiy stopped on Saturday near the

P18 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 49 10•December•2020