Maersk Drilling has been awarded a contract for the harsh environment jack-up rig Mærsk Gallant, following a competitive tendering exercise by Nexen Petroleum U.K. Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of CNOOC Limited.

The contract covers the drilling of the High-pressure, High-temperature (HPHT) exploration Glengorm well, in the UK sector of the North Sea. The contract duration is estimated for 140 days and is expected to commence in the third quarter of 2017.

“I am glad to announce that Maersk Drilling has been able to secure a new contract for the jack-up rig, Mærsk Gallant. Despite the current market downturn, Maersk Drilling has secured three new contracts in the past four months. Striving to always be a trusted and value-adding partner to our customers has paid off in a market situation like the one we face today. We look forward to working closely with Nexen in delivering a safe and efficient drilling campaign,” Says Michael Reimer Mortensen, Vice President and Head of Global Sales in Maersk Drilling.

Mærsk Gallant has extensive experience in drilling HPHT wells, including a recent Ultra HPHT well for oil major Total SA in Norway. On this Ultra HPHT well for Total, Mærsk Gallant was adapted to drill an 18,000 PSI reservoir with a maximum expected wellhead pressure in excess of 16,000 PSI.

Mærsk Gallant is currently on contract with Maersk Oil, performing plug and abandonment operations of the Leadon and James subsea fields in the UK sector of the North Sea. However, in agreement with Maersk Oil, this campaign will be put on hold while the drilling of the Glengorm well is ongoing for Nexen. Following the drilling campaign for Nexen, Mærsk Gallant will return to complete the plug and abandonment operations of the Leadon and James fields in April 2018.

About Maersk Drilling

Maersk Drilling’s modern fleet counts 24 drilling rigs including drillships, deepwater semi-submersibles and high-end jack-up rigs. Maersk Drilling employs an international staff of 3,200 people and generated an underlying profit of USD 743m in 2016.