Tullow Hires Maersk Drillship for Ghana

Maersk Drilling won a four-year contract last month for the deepwater drillship Maersk Venturer from Tullow, it said January 2. The contract, its first with Tullow in Ghana, is expected to start February 2018 and covers development drilling on the Jubilee and TEN oil and gas fields offshore Ghana, both of which are already producing. The drillship is now on its way.

Drilling on TEN's western fringe was delayed two years because of a maritime boundary dispute with Ghana's western neighbour Cote d'Ivoire that was only finally settled in September 2017.

Maersk Rigworld Ghana, the joint venture between Maersk Drilling and Ghana-based Rigworld International Services, will provide local services in connection with the operation. Kofi Abban, founder and CEO of Rigworld Group, said his staff are “excited” that Maersk is expanding its footprint in Ghana.

Another drillship Maersk Voyager worked for Eni drilling the OCTP oil and gas project from mid-2015. That contract was originally for 3.5 years, but the field was brought onstream ahead of schedule. “After more than 2.5 years of operation in Ghana with Maersk Voyager, Maersk Drilling now operates with over 50% local staff and a wide network of local suppliers,” said Maersk Drilling chief commercial officer Lars Ostergaard, adding his appreciation of “the opportunity to make use of the ever increasing capabilities within the Ghanaian indigenous sector.”

Maersk Drilling is wholly owned by Danish shipping and logistics group AP Moeller-Maersk which is divesting its upstream Maersk Oil business to Total for $7.45bn, a deal scheduled to complete this quarter.