Romanian rig heading for Russian Arctic

A Romanian jack-up rig is scheduled to be mobilized for operation in the far northern waters in May, the Romanian company Grup Servicii Petroliere S.A informs.

The operations are part of a two-year cooperation agreement signed with Gazprom Neft, the licenseholder at the Dolginskoye field in the Pechora Sea.

As previously reported, the drilling operations were originally to be conducted in 2013. However, the drilling was postponed and the rig chosen for the operation was shifted. The Romanian company originally intended to use the “GSP Jupiter” for the job, a press release reads.

The GPS Saturn was built by the Romanian Gelatzi Yard in 1988, and later rebuilt in 2009. According to the company, it is “one of the most technologically advanced GSP’s MODUs”.

The Dolginskoye field is located 120 km south of the Novaya Zemlya and 110 north of the Nenets AO mainland. The field holds an estimated 200 million tons of oil equivalents. Another three previous exploration wells have been made at the structure, a press release from the Nenets AO administration reads.

Copyright, Barents Observer, 2014.