Posted on April 20, 2022
Danish offshore drilling contractor Maersk Drilling has been awarded a contract extension by Inpex for a semi-submersible rig for operations in Australia.
Maersk Drilling said that Inpex exercised an option to extend the provisioning of the ultra-deepwater semi-submersible rig Maersk Deliverer for drilling services at the Ichthys field in the Browse Basin offshore Western Australia.
According to the company, the contract extension has a duration of one year and is expected to begin in July 2023, in direct continuation of the rig’s current contract. One one-year option remains on the contract.
The operations in Australia will continue to be carried out with a particular focus on bringing value to the local community. Since arriving in the country in 2020, the Maersk Deliverer has employed a crew consisting of more than 80 percent Australian nationals, thereby significantly exceeding the contractual requirement of 40 percent. Also, the rig follows Maersk Drilling’s global policy of using local suppliers when possible.
“We’re delighted to confirm that Mærsk Deliverer and its dedicated crew will continue to support Inpex and create value for the Western Australia community into 2024. The campaign at the Ichthys Field has reached several key milestones, including that Mærsk Deliverer was the first-ever rig to use managed pressure drilling in Australian waters,” says Maersk Drilling Chief Operating Officer Morten Kelstrup.
Mærsk Deliverer is a DSS-21 column stabilized dynamically positioned semi-submersible drilling rig, able to operate in water depths up to 10,000 feet. It is currently operating offshore Australia.
Maersk Drilling won the initial contract for the Maersk Deliverer back in April 2019. The deal with Inpex Australia and joint venture participants for drilling at the Ichthys gas and condensate field was for three years and two one-year options.
The estimated contract value of the three-year contract was $300 million, including mobilization. The contract started in the second quarter of 2020.
