Centre of attention: the Atwood Eagle drilling rig
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- Chevron probe aims to unlock Aussie gas potential
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- Charon 1 dry
- Chevron harvests Aussie gas
Chevron and Woodside in rig spat
Chevron and Australia’s Woodside Petroleum are locked in talks in an attempt to resolve a legal battle over access to the Atwood Eagle semi-submersible drilling rig, which the US outfit claims is holding up its drilling campaign off Western Australia.
While the rig is contracted to Woodside under a long-term agreement, the two companies had entered into a rig-sharing agreement a year ago that would allegedly allow Chevron to take control of the rig on 24 October, the West Australian reported.
Chevron, which is in the middle of its biggest-ever drilling programme off Australia to advance its Gorgon and Wheatstone liquefied natural gas projects, launched a Supreme Court bid this month claiming that Woodside had reneged on the deal.
The company added that it would suffer “loss and damage that cannot be readily quantified” if the Atwood Eagle was not assigned immediately.
However, the paper quoted Woodside saying that it was “surprised and disappointed” by Chevron’s legal action saying that under the terms of the agreement, it had the right to complete its Pluto development wells.
"While Chevron appears to have a different interpretation of the terms of the rig-sharing contract, we had hoped this difference of opinion could be resolved amicably without the need for legal action."