Neptune Energy extends Norwegian North Sea drilling contract

Oil and gas firm Neptune Energy has sealed an extended contract for a drilling rig to include three additional wells in the Norwegian North Sea.

The Deepsea Yantai rig, which is currently drilling the production wells at the Neptune-operated Fenja field in the Norwegian Sea.

The Deepsea Yantai rig is currently drilling the production wells at the Neptune-operated Fenja field in the Norwegian Sea.

The extension will include one additional well at the Fenja field and two exploration wells within core areas of the Norwegian sector, the firm noted. Neptune also has the option to include additional wells under the current contract.

Contract values have not been disclosed.

Neptune Energy’s managing director for Norway, Odin Estensen, said: “The extension of the contract for the Deepsea Yantai plays a vital role in our busy drilling program for next year, including both development and exploration drilling in our core areas with a clear ambition to further grow our business on the Norwegian Shelf.”

The Deepsea Yantai, which is owned by CIMC Raffles, has been operating for Neptune Energy in Norway since November 2019. This included completion of the appraisal and production wells at the two new Gjøa P1 and Duva fields, and several exploration wells including the Dugong discovery last year.

Neptune Energy, which was founded by former Centrica boss Sam Laidlaw, is a global exploration and production company with operations across Europe, North Africa and Asia Pacific.

The business had production of 142,000 net barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2020 and reserves of 601 million barrels of oil equivalent as of the end of 2020. Neptune Energy Norge is a subsidiary of the group.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We’re more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers. If you haven’t already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription: www.scotsman.com/subscriptions