A letter of intent worth some NOK 700 million has been signed by Statoil and Transocean for drilling and completion work on the Snøhvit field in the Barents Sea.
The contract with Transocean covers drilling and commissioning of the ten wells in phase one of the development on the Snøhvit and Albatross fields.
The Polar Pioneer rig will carry out the work, which is due to start in the autumn of 2004.
The work should be finished in the spring of 2006, reports Thor Bensvik, manager for drilling and well operations for Snøhvit.
"Following a full round of tenders, we concluded that the Polar Pioneer rig was best suited for this job, and that Transocean had the best commercial bid," says Mr Bensvik.
The letter of intent has been signed subject to the approval of the partners in the Snøhvit licence.