UK-based energy major Shell has agreed a contract with Maersk Drilling to drill one of Shell’s prospects in the southern portion of UK North Sea.
The Maersk Resilient, a jack-up rig for challenging environments, will perform the drilling over a two-month period following the completion of its work for the NAM joint venture of Shell and ExxonMobil, the latter being the maker of popular lubricants like the Mobil DTE hydraulic oil range.
Morten Kelstrup, the Chief Operating Officer of Maersk Drilling, said about the new contract:
“We’re delighted to announce this contract which firms up Maersk Resilient’s drilling programme for most of 2022 and will allow the…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.”
Shell’s partner in the prospect, Deltic Energy, also released a statement indicating that sea preparations for the rig’s placement would start in late July, with drilling set to begin in late September.
Pensacola is a Zechstein Reef prospect that lies to the north and west of the Breagh gas field, within Licence P2252. According to Deltic, the gross probable and proven prospective resources are estimated at 309 billion cubic feet, with the geological chance of success being rated at 55%.
Graham Swindells, Deltic’s CEO, expressed his company’s excitement at setting a schedule for drilling and moving a step closer to developing the Pensacola prospect, which looks set to be a valuable resource given the current environment for energy supply.
