Scarabeo 8: first exploration well off Hammerfest in 32 years

The drilling rig Scarabeo 8

Det Norske Veritas has won a bid to provide environmental and emergency preparedness risk analysis for Statoil’s Johan Castberg project in the Barents Sea . Statoil got the go-ahead from Oslo to drill the first exploration well in one of its Barents Sea licenses . Meanwhile the company is reportedly kicking off seismic studies in the Sea of Okhotsk in cooperation with Rosneft (Upstream).

The drilling rig Scarabeo 8 appeared overnight Monday this week off Ersvika near Hammerfest, the first time a rig has visited Hammerfest in 32 years. The rig is taking advantage of the area’s sheltered waters to perform some tricky refitting 
The Castberg project, which may hold as much as 600 million barrels of recoverable crude, has helped rekindle interest in the Barents Sea after a decade of disappointing results.
Statoil, based in Stavanger, is the operator of the field and has a 50 percent stake. Italy’s Eni SpA has 30 percent, and Petoro AS, which manages Norway’s direct stakes in its oil and gas fields, holds 20 percent. Statoil had originally planned to submit a plan for development and operation to the government for approval next year before starting production in 2018.
Norway remains committed to developing the waters off its northern coast and expects “a lot of licensing” in the Barents Sea when the results of the 22nd licensing round are announced “in the near future” . The government will consider regional support for oil and gas activities if needed, as was done with the development of the Snohvit gas field off the coast of Hammerfest.

HAI YANG SHI YOU 981 near Pearl River Mouth

CNOOC Ltd, CNOOC's listed arm and the country's near monopoly offshore player, is preparing to drill its first-ever deepsea well in the northern part of the South China Sea around the beginning of 2012 -- some six months behind an earlier plan. CNOOC geologists said in September that they have identified several major oil and gas structures through advanced seismic surveys, largely in two basins -- Qiongdongnan and Pearl River Mouth, both in the northern parts of the South China Sea.The mouth of the Pearl River forms a large bay in the southeast of the delta, the Zhujiang Kou. This bay separates Macau and Zhuhai from Hong Kong and Shenzhen. CNOOC Ltd would be using "Offshore 981", China's first home-made semi-submersible deepsea rig that cost 6 billion yuan ($940 million) to build. back

Kolskaya: sinks in the Sea of Okhotsk

Rescuers have recovered 14 survivors and located 16 bodies so far. 37 crew members still missing
[earlier] Three lifeboats the rescuers found soon after at the scene were empty. One lifeboat remained unaccounted for by search and rescue teams, who held hopes it could be found with survivors on board. It was located on Monday, but was also empty. Rescue workers have found a raft with up to 15 people aboard near an offshore Russian drilling rig that capsized in the Sea of Okhotsk - but it was unclear if they were alive, more

[earlier]"The Kolskaya keeled to its side ... and sank within 20 minutes. The depth of the water at the site is 1,042 metres (3,400 feet)," Russia's federal water transport agency said on its website.

Four of the survivors, suffering from hypothermia, were airlifted by helicopter to land and taken to hospital after the disaster struck at 12:45 p.m. (0145 GMT).
[earlier]The rescue operation is continuing despite night having fallen. The Emergencies Ministry says 14 people have been saved and four found dead. Rescuers had problems with lifting the dead bodies from the water and had to leave them floating in the sea until the storm, which sank the rig, calmed down a little,
The drilling rig belongs to the Arktikmorneftegazrazvedka exploration company, which carried out work under a contract with energy giant Gazprom.

The drilling rig, which can take up to 102 people on board, was built in 1985 in Finland. The rig started its operations in September to drill and test the Pervoocherednaya well on the West-Kamchatka licensed block of the Okhotsk Sea shelf.

The rig, which is 69 meters long and 80 meters wide, was intended to drill a well at a depth of 3,500 meters.

A Gazprom spokesman said that the rig had fulfilled its works for Gazprom by the time of the accident and was heading for its base.

Investigators have said they are considering the rig's tow in disregard of a severe storm as the most likely reason for the accident.

but in 1992 Emtunga installed the living quarter module.

SIZE AND WEIGHT:
The overall module dimensions 32.0 x 16.0 x 14.0 m, three levels. Total area 1550 m2.
Total weight 582 tonnes.

Rig Name: Kolskaya
Rig Manager: ArcticMorNefteGazRazvedka
Rig Owner: ArcticMorNefteGazRazvedka
Competitive Rig: Yes
Rig Type: Jackup
Jackup Type: Independent Leg Cantilever
Rig Design: Gusto Engineering BV Schiedam / Triangular
Rated Water Depth: 328 ft
Drilling Depth: 21,325 ft
Classification: DNV
Rig Design: Gusto Engineering BV Schiedam / Triangular
Built By: Rauma Repola Oy at the Rauma Repola Finland shipyard
Delivery Year: 1985
Flag: Russian Federation

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The 'Neftegaz-55' tugboat, also owned by AMNGR, had been towing the Kolskaya rig and took part in the search effort, but pulled out after suffering hull damage. The tug, carrying 11 crew rescued from the rig, was limping to port.

'Neftegaz-55 8418459 NEFTEGAZ-55 UHKK Tug 1397 1987