Further details of the newbuild rig which keeled over into the water after one of its jack-up legs collapsed while working on the Maersk Oil-operated Al Shaheen field off Qatar have emerged.

Crew were reported to have escaped in lifeboats in the incident involving the 2014-built unit Rumailah, owned and operated by Gulf Drilling International, that occurred on 5 July.

A spokesman for the Danish operator said in a statement confirming the incident: “All personnel are safe and accounted for and no damage to Al Shaheen facilities has been reported.”

Doha-based Gulf Drilling said in a bourse statement the rig had suffered a “punch-through incident” and had been taken to the local Nakilat yard for repairs, estimated to take several months.

The rig contractor also confirmed there were no injuries and all personnel were safely evacuated.

The so-called liftboat unit with jack-up legs that is used as a support vessel had recently undergone repairs including an overhaul of its jack-up system after one of its legs failed to elevate, Norwegian publication Stavanger Aftenblad reported.

A Maersk Oil spokesperson said: “We are supporting Gulf Drilling International (GDI) following a punch through incident offshore on 5 July, involving the GDI owned and operated Jack-up rig “Rumailah”. All personnel are safe and accounted for and no damage to Al Shaheen facilities has been reported.”

The unit is working under a three-year contract with Maersk that expires in June 2017.

Al-Shaheen oil field, located 80 km off Qatar’s shores, is one of the largest oil fields in the world and the largest oil producing field in Qatar. The field currently produces around 300,000 barrels of oil per day. Maersk Oil Qatar has been the operator of the field since 1992, under a 25-year exploration and development agreement.

The operatorship might change, as Qatar Petroleum (QP), Qatar’s state-run oil and gas company, has issued invitations to international oil & gas companies to compete for the future operation and development the country’s largest offshore oil field Al-Shaheen, starting in mid-2017.

Source: www.upstreamonline.com

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