Shelf Drilling has been awarded a drilling contract for CNOOC's Golden Eagle field in the central North Sea. The contract, secured through Shelf Drilling's North Sea subsidiary, covers two wells and is expected to last between four and five months. The firm contract value is approximately £13.3 million ($17 million), with options for additional wells totaling an estimated 13-month duration.

The contract will utilize the Shelf Drilling Fortress jack-up rig, formerly known as the Noble Sam Hartley, which was acquired along with four other units from Noble Drilling to address competition concerns arising from the takeover of rival Maersk Drilling. Operations are scheduled to commence in September 2023.

Golden Eagle, located approximately 70 miles off Aberdeen, is operated by CNOOC with a 36.54% share, and other partners include EnQuest (26.69%), NEO Energy (31.56%), and ONE-Dyas (5.21%). Despite starting production in 2014 and producing nearly 15 million barrels of oil equivalent in 2021, the field has seen declining output in recent years, dropping from eighth to seventeenth place among the North Sea's top production hubs.

In a separate announcement, Shelf Drilling revealed that CNOOC Petroleum Europe Limited awarded a new contract for its Shelf Drilling Fortress jack-up rig to operate on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS). The rig will conduct operations at the Golden Eagle platform, located about 111 kilometers northeast of Aberdeen in the UK Central North Sea. The firm contract covers two wells, lasting between four and five months, with a value of $17 million. The contract also includes options for additional wells totaling 13 months. Operations are set to begin in September 2023.

The Shelf Drilling Fortress rig, originally named Noble Sam Hartley, was acquired to address competition concerns related to Noble's merger with Maersk Drilling. It previously worked for TotalEnergies in the North Sea. Built in 2014, the jack-up rig can accommodate around 150 people and is capable of operating in water depths of 400 feet, with a maximum drilling depth of 35,000 feet.

Shelf Drilling has secured multiple new contracts and extensions in 2023, expecting rising demand in the Asian rig market to boost day rates in the jack-up segment.