Norway’s oil and gas producer Statoil has sent a Transocean rig it had contracted for drilling in the US Gulf of Mexico to Egypt.
Deep-water drilling in the Mexico Gulf is suspended after BP’s well blowout and ensuing spill in April. Statoil has a leading position in deep-water Gulf of Mexico acreage.
"We’ve reached an agreement with Transocean to move the rig and drill off Egypt…hopefully in the fourth quarter of 2010," Statoil spokesman Baard Glad Pedersen said.
Statoil is the operator of two offshore exploration licenses in the Mediterranean, west of the Nile Delta, in water depths of up to 3,000 meters. On its website, Statoil said it was committed to drilling one well in its El Dabaa Offshore Block 9.
In June Statoil declared force majeure on another rig it had contracted for work in the Gulf of Mexico.
