Fred. Olsen Energy’s rig-managment business Dolphin AS has signed a letter of intent with German oil company RWE Dea’s Norwegian subsidiary for 160 days of drilling with the semi-sub Bredford Dolphin.

The contract extension would bring in $69 million for Dolphin, although an option to extend the deal by between 80 and 240 days has been granted wellhead expert AGR Petroleum.

Drilling is set for offshore Norway, where exploration activity has intensified of late up and down an oil province as long as the West Coast of the United States.

Rig finance

In other rig market news, Scorpion Offshore Ltd. has secured a $52 million loan for six months guaranteed by its two big shareholders, Seadrill Ltd. and Mr. Christen Sveaas. In return for the backstopping, they’ll be paid a guarantors fee of 8.5 percent.

The lending means Scorpion has no further neeed to finance operations for its six working rigs, but the company will have to sell the rig Offshore Mischief to pay the loan back.

Talks with “interested parties” should wrap up by year-end 2009.

The six rigs stand to earn $820 million over two years.

New rig action

Meanwhile, Aker Exploration and partners have started the Songa Dee drilling the “high impact” prospect Aegis near the Grane field in the northern North Sea.

“There are great expectations tied to this prospect which is believed to be oil bearing,” a statement said, adding that area pipelines ensure export routes. License 304’s Lundin Petroleum (50 percent) and VNG (20 percent) join Aker Exploration (30 percent) at Aegis.

Aker Exploration intends to leash its Aker Barents rig on a three year “continuous drilling programm across 21 licenses on the Norwegian continental Shelf by mid-July 2009.

ws@scandoil.com

Tags: Dolphin Drilling, Fred Olsen Energy, Scorpion Offshore, Seadrill