By Kjetil Malkenes Hovland
OSLO-Norway's Statoil ASA (STO) said Friday that it had awarded
a drilling and well services contract for the $7 billion Mariner
heavy oil field off the U.K. to Schlumberger Ltd.
The contract starts January 2015 and runs for four years,
including options for several additional four-year periods, Statoil
said. The contract also includes options for Bressay, another heavy
oil field off the U.K. which is still in an evaluation phase, it
added. No financial details were given.
"This is a very significant agreement for the Mariner project,
and the result of an innovative, new procurement approach," said
Gunnar Breivik, managing director for Statoil Production U.K. "The
supplier will work as an integrated part of the Statoil team
delivering most of the drilling and well services on the Mariner
field."
Mariner is located about 150 kilometers east of the Shetland
Isles. Drilling is planned to start in 2016 and first production in
2017, and the field is set to produce for three decades.
Statoil is operator of Mariner with a 65.11% stake. Partners
include JX Nippon Exploration and Production Ltd. with a 28.89%
stake and Dyas Mariner Ltd. with a 6% stake.
Write to Kjetil Malkenes Hovland at
kjetilmalkenes.hovland@wsj.com
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