Maersk Drilling awarded one-well contract with Shell in the UK North Sea

The contract has an estimated duration of approximately two months and work is expected to commence in H2 2022, in direct continuation of the rig’s previous work scope with Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (NAM).

“We’re delighted to announce this contract which firms up Maersk Resilient’s drilling programme for most of 2022 and will allow the Resilient team to build even further on the excellent collaboration that was established with NAM and the Shell organisation during last year’s campaign at Galleon,” said Maersk Drilling chief operating officeer Morten Kelstrup.

The 106-m long, Gusto-engineered MSC CJ 50 high-efficiency jack-up rig was delivered in 2008 and is currently operating for NAM in the Dutch sector of the North Sea.

This week, Noble Corp issued an update on its proposed merger with Maersk Drilling. The company will sell five jack-up rigs (Noble Hans Deul, Noble Sam Hartley, Noble Sam Turner, Noble Houston Colbert and Noble Lloyd Noble) and all related infrastructure for US$375M to a newly formed subsidiary of Shelf Drilling to remedy any concerns identified by the UK antitrust regulator the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) regarding the merger. A decision on the merger from the CMA is expected by next week.