CNOOC International has further extended its charter of jack-up Maersk Innovator for infill drilling work on the Buzzard field in the UK North Sea.

The Chinese operator has exercised a further one-well option for the Maersk Drilling-owned CJ70-design harsh-environment rig and now has six remaining single-well options, the Danish contractor disclosed in its latest fleet update.

Maersk also confirmed that it has secured a conditional letter of award with Total for its drillship Maersk Voyager to carry out a three-well exploration campaign off Angola and Namibia, with an additional two options for one well each, with the contract due for start-up by year-end.

Upstream recently reported the drillship had been lined up for the drilling effort, as well as Odfjell Drilling’s semi-submersible Deepsea Stavanger for other work.

Maersk said these and other recent rig awards were in addition to its $2.2 billion in backlog at the end of the third quarter, having won contracts and extensions worth $103 million during the period.

Rigs And Vessels

CNOOC in Maersk rig extension