Petrofac seals Shetland well deal with Hurricane

Oil and gas services group Petrofac has been appointed well operator under a three-year contract focused on a key development to the west of Shetland.

Petrofac's Walter Thain. Picture: Contributed

The firm said the deal with Hurricane Energy made it the first outsourced well operator to manage a drilling campaign in the UK continental shelf (UKCS) under new regulations laid down by the Offshore Safety Directive Regulator. The value of the contract was not disclosed.

The new agreement builds on an existing relationship with Hurricane Energy, with Petrofac’s well engineering team continuing to provide all well engineering and project management support services for the operator’s drilling activities.

Walter Thain, managing director – west, Petrofac Engineering & Production Services, described the latest deal as the “next significant step” in Hurricane’s West of Shetland development.

He added: “Through the deployment of our extensive asset and well management expertise, we will work closely with Hurricane Energy to assure the integrity of the wells and deliver a safe and cost efficient drilling programme to support the further advancement of the development.”

Robert Trice, chief executive of Hurricane Energy, said: “We are very pleased to have Petrofac as well operator and partner for our exciting wells on Lancaster to be drilled this summer and as we appraise and develop our fractured basement portfolio subsequently.”

In March, Petrofac announced its first service operator contract with Anasuria Operating Company, which combined the responsibilities for installation operator, pipeline operator and well operator for the first time on the UKCS.