A contract worth NOK 540 million to deliver drilling and completion fluids for Statoil’s Kvitebjørn and Kristen projects has been awarded to Halliburton sub-contractor Cabot.
Running initially until October 2004, the assignment includes options for two additional years.
It has been awarded as a supplement to Statoil’s frame agreement with Halliburton on delivering drilling fluids to the group’s operations on the Norwegian continental shelf.
Kvitebjørn is under development in the North Sea, while Kristin lies in the Norwegian Sea.
The delivery covers caesium format, a fluid additive specially developed for drilling and completing wells in reservoirs with particularly high pressure and temperature.
US-based Cabot produces caesium from its mines and has developed the product.
A trial well will be drilled on each of the fields - which both feature high pressure and temperature – to determine whether the required success criteria can be achieved.
If so, the fluid will be used for the whole drilling programme on the fields. Statoil has previously used caesium format on its Huldra development in the North Sea with good results.
Production drilling is due to start on both Kvitebjørn and Kristin during the summer.