With sights set on Fram Sør development, Equinor extends semi-sub to 2029

Equinor has confirmed a previously signed letter of intent for Deepsea Aberdeen, extending the harsh environment semi-submersible’s work on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) and northern North Sea until 2029.

The deal was announced by drilling contractor Odfjell Drilling, which reported Equinor will use Deepsea Aberdeen to drill an unspecified scope in an interim period on the NCS, before moving to the Fram Sør project, offshore Norway.

As announced, the work will begin in Q4 2026, in direct continuation of semi-sub’s current contract with Equinor, and is estimated to continue to Q1 2029.

The contract adds about US$373M to Odfjell’s firm order backlog, excluding integrated services, performance bonuses and fuel incentives as well as yearly escalation increases. Odfjell Drilling chief executive, Kjetil Gjersdal, noted his firm now has three rigs working for the Norwegian oil and gas major, following this latest agreement.

Fram Sør incorporates four fields, Blasto, Dermata, Echino Sør and Fram Vest, that are north of Troll in the northern North Sea. The development is groundbreaking in that it will be the first large-scale deployment of an all-electric subsea production system; it will have four subsea templates that are tied back to the Troll C platform for production and export to Europe.

Acquisition of semi

On 15 December a subsidiary of Odfjell Drilling acquired Deepsea Bollesta from Northern Ocean Ltd (NOL) for US$480M in cash. NOL said it simultaneously prepaid the remaining US$285M loan provided by a group of banks and reduced its loan facility with Sterna Finance Ltd, a company affiliated with the company’s main shareholder, Hemen Holding Limited, to US$100M. Hemen Holding, a Cyprus-based maritime investment vehicle for billionaire shipping magnate John Fredriksen, owned a 34.3% stake in NOL at the end of November.

NOL’s remaining rig, Deepsea Mira, will begin operations with a subsidiary of Shell plc in Namibia in April 2026.

The 2018-built Deepsea Mira is a sixth generation dynamically positioned and anchor-moored unit based on a Moss Maritime CS60E design.

The contract covers one firm well and includes one optional well, with an estimated duration of 45 days for the firm well. Valued at US$16M, the contract boosts NOL’s firm backlog to about US$387M.

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