Oilfield services company Archer has won a contract for the provision of modular drilling unit and associated services aboard TAQA's Cormoran Alpha platform in the UK North Sea.

Archer's rig has been contracted by TAQA to perform a twenty-one well plug and abandonment campaign for the Cormorant Alpha platform located some 310 miles North East of Aberdeen in water depth 150m. 

The platform is a fixed installation serving as a manned drilling and production platform for the South Cormorant field in Block 211/26a in the East Shetland Basin of the Northern North Sea.

Commenting on the contract with TAQA, Dag Skindlo, Chief Executive Officer of Archer said: "We are delighted with the award of this contract which secures the rig work until late 2023." 

The integrated P&A service delivery will include services provided by Archer's Engineering, Rentals, Oiltools, and Wireline divisions, and will also require Archer to manage and deliver cementing, swarf, and re-injection services from third-party providers.

The Archer Topaz modular rig is expected to mobilize to the Cormorant Alpha platform in the second half of  2021 following the removal of the existing Cormorant Alpha integral derrick equipment set, and reactivation activities on the platform by Archer's Engineering division.