Schlumberger signed a contract worth over USD$200 million with Equinor to manage an offshore rig as part of a drilling program in Brazil’s offshore Campos oil basin. The deal would be the first time an oil services company replaces a drilling-rig contractor.
“Schlumberger (SLB) will provide the full scope of well construction services, drilling management services, and advanced digital technology solutions,” according to a company document.
Equinor last June awarded Schlumberger a contract to drill the 22 wells in the Peregrino field in the Campos offshore basin. Equinor, formerly known as Statoil (STO), has been expanding its presence in Brazil, proposing to invest up to USD$15 billion in Latin America’s top oil-producing country.
The company paid up to USD$2.9 billion in 2017 for a 25 percent stake in the Roncador field, one of Brazil’s largest oilfields, aiming to boost output by around 500 million barrels. Equinor began producing from the Peregrino field, where Schlumberger will manage the drilling rig, in 2011. The field contains an estimated reserve of 400 million barrels of recoverable oil. The Equinor-operated Peregrino II development is on track to start production at the end of 2020, with its break-even price reduced to below USD$40 a barrel versus the original estimate of USD$70.