Noble Corporation secured a new contract for the self-lifting platform Noble Interceptor, which will carry out well plugging and abandonment work for ConocoPhillips Skandinavia in the Greater Ekofisk area of Norway.
The agreement includes an estimated 670-day campaign and is scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2027. This will integrate the unit into ConocoPhillips’ operations in one of the main oil-producing areas of the Norwegian continental shelf.
Noble Interceptor will take over a P&A campaign
The Noble Interceptor is a jack-up rig built in 2014 and designed to operate in harsh environmental conditions. The unit is based on the Gusto MSC CJ70 X150 MD design and has a drilling capacity of up to 40,000 feet.
Furthermore, the platform can operate in water depths of up to 492 feet, characteristics that allow its use in the offshore conditions present off the coast of Norway.
The awarded scope will focus on plugging and abandonment (P&A) operations of wells in the Greater Ekofisk Area (GEA), approximately 300 kilometers southwest of Stavanger.
To Noble Corporation the contract also opens a new stage of collaboration with ConocoPhillips on the Norwegian continental shelf.
We appreciate the opportunity to support ConocoPhillips’ operations off the Norwegian coast with the Noble Interceptor. This contract represents a new and exciting collaboration for us on the continental shelf, and we look forward to demonstrating the full capabilities of this asset and its crew.
Blake Denton, senior vice president of Marketing and Contracts at Noble.
Greater Ekofisk concentrates historical oil operations
The area where the Noble Interceptor will work includes the Ekofisk field, discovered in 1969, and also comprises other producing fields such as Eldfisk, Embla, Tor and Tommeliten A.
The area’s infrastructure is centered around the Ekofisk Complex through an extensive network of interconnected platforms. From there, the oil produced is transported by pipeline to Teesside in the UK, while the gas is piped to Emden in Germany.
Therefore, well abandonment work will coexist with production operations and new developments within an offshore infrastructure that has accumulated decades of activity.
ConocoPhillips is preparing a new production from Ekofisk
Meanwhile, ConocoPhillips has approved the Previously Produced Fields (PPF) project, which aims to redevelop resources associated with Albuskjell, Vest Ekofisk and Tommeliten Gamma.
The project envisions a subsea solution connected to the Ekofisk Complex and will utilize existing infrastructure. The scheme includes 11 new wells from four subsea structures that will be connected by a shared pipeline.
According to the project’s forecasts, new production should begin at the end of 2028, with recoverable resources estimated at between 90 and 120 million barrels of oil equivalent.
With this combination of abandoning mature wells and developing new resources, Greater Ekofisk will continue to concentrate different phases of the life cycle of oil and gas assets in Norwegian waters.
Source: Offshore Energy
Photo: Noble Corporation
