COSL Drilling Europe has signed an agreement for the semi-submersible rig COSLPioneer for drilling at the Buzzard Phase II (BPII) Project for Nexen Petroleum in the UK sector.
The drilling campaign will commence in February 2019 and comprise at least 6 wells. The expected duration is around 16-18 months.
COSLPioneer is a mid-water semi-submersible built in China by Yantai CMIC Raffles and delivered in November 2010. The floater is currently undertaking a P&A campaign in the UK. The agreement with Nexen secures firm contract work for the rig until the third quarter of 2020.
The Buzzard field was discovered in 2001 and is located across Blocks 19/5a, 19/10, 20/1S and 20/6 approximately 100 km northeast of Aberdeen in the Outer Moray Firth. The field is currently producing via up to 35 production wells (when all wells are online) and 13 WI (Water Injection) wells. All the production wells and one of the WI wells are located at the Buzzard W Platform, whilst the remaining 12 WI wells are subsea and located at either the Southern WI Manifold (five wells) or the Central WI Manifold (seven wells). The existing Buzzard Complex comprises four bridge linked platforms: the QU Platform, the W Platform, the P Platform and the PS Platform. Hydrocarbon production began in 2007 with the facilities capable of processing over 200,000 bbls of oil per day and 60 MMscf/d of gas. Oil and gas export is via the FPS and Frigg pipeline systems respectively. (Source: COSL Drilling Europe, Nexen)