Aberdeen drilling and engineering firm KCA Deutag strikes contracts worth £388m

The deals comprise a contract award and two contract extensions for work in the UK, Norwegian North Sea, and Russia and will account for 13 years of contract backlog.

KCA Deutag’s Offshore division secured a five-year contract, with further extension options, with a major oil company in Russia. The award will see the local team continue to deliver platform drilling services including rig maintenance, warehousing, inventory procurement and management for three offshore platforms.

The Portlethen-based firm said the award allows it to continue to build on its integrated service model by directly managing other offshore services and providing multiskilled crews.

The firm has netted the latest contracts for platform drilling services in the UK, Norwegian North Sea, and Russia. Picture: contributed.

In addition, the UK and Norway teams have secured two separate contract extensions with longstanding customers.

KCA Deutag added that as oil and gas operators look for ways to accelerate the realisation of their environmental, social, and corporate governance goals, it plays a “pivotal” role in this transition.

"Through its group-wide products they are able to engage customers and present solution-based offerings. In the case of these recent awards, the focus has been on the assessment, monitoring and reduction of carbon emissions by means of operational and equipment optimisation,” said the Scottish-headquartered business.

The firm has staff in Africa, Europe, Russia, the Middle East, the Caspian Sea, Canada and South-east Asia. Picture: Matthias Ibeler.

It is also continuing the rollout and implementation of its +veDRILL technology, aimed at driving performance improvement and digitalisation of the offshore worksite.

KCA Deutag’s president of offshore Ole Maier said: "We are delighted to have been awarded these contract extensions, which build on our long-standing relationships with our key customers. Through multiskilling of our expert rig crews, we are pleased to be able to extend our services on these platforms, alongside continuing to deliver the highest standards of operational performance for our customer.

“At the same time, we continue our development and deployment of our Well of Innovation technologies to improve the value we deliver to our customers. This contributes to our ability to secure contracts such as these.

Energy-efficient

“Alongside this, we have and are developing new technologies as we leverage our group-wide operating, manufacturing and engineering capabilities to make our operations more energy-efficient while at the same time move into renewable energy applications as the energy transition gathers pace and scale.”

The news comes after the firm in March of this year said it had secured contract wins and extensions worth around $110m altogether for its land drilling business in Pakistan, Russia, Kurdistan, South-eastern Europe and Germany.

The firm can trace its roots back to 1888, when it was founded by entrepreneur Heinrich Lapp in Germany, it drilled its first well in Weitze in 1905, and in 1919 became known as Deutsche Tiefbohr Aktiengesellschaft-Deutag.

In 1957, KCA (Keir Cawder Arrow) Drilling was founded in Scotland, merging with Deutag in 2001. Now, KCA Deutag and its affiliates operate drilling rigs globally, with staff in Africa, Europe, Russia, the Middle East, the Caspian Sea, Canada and South-east Asia.

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