By Dominic Chopping
Norway's Statoil ASA (STO) on Wednesday said it has suspended
the Scarabeo 5 drilling rig due to over capacity in its rig
portfolio, the second such move in a week, as it continues to cut
costs amid a low oil price environment.
Scarabeo 5 will be suspended in the middle of August, once it
has completed drilling of a well on the Kristin field in the
Norwegian Sea, and will last until 1 March 2016.
"We regret the need to suspend Scarabeo 5, but we will do our
utmost to resume our drilling operations earlier than planned,"
said Jon Arnt Jacobsen, senior vice president of Procurement.
A week ago the company cancelled a contract with the COSL
Pioneer drilling rig some 13 months before it expires, as the
company had failed to find work for it amid an over capacity of
rigs.
The oil and gas major is cutting jobs and seeking efficiencies
as it targets $1.7 billion of annual savings from 2016.
-Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com; Twitter:
@WSJNordics
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