Norway proves to be harsh testing ground

By

 23 August 2012 22:59 GMT

Norway’s offshore arena has been the hard proving ground for Odfjell Drilling, where it has had to tackle a range of challenging real-life drilling scenarios, under the watchful eye of major client Statoil, writes Steve Marshall.

“We have a very demanding customer and that has trained us to maintain a focus on safety and quality of operations, which is our licence to operate,” says chief executive Simen Lieungh.

However, that relationship endured a severe test a couple of years back when Statoil cut off dayrate payments for the contractor’s flagship ultra-deepwater semi-submersible Deepsea Atlantic, claiming the 2009-built rig was unsuitable for shallower drilling on the Gullfaks field due to the weight of its blowout preventor.

Odfjell lost a subsequent court case and was ordered to pay more than $11…

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