Drifting Shell drilling rig grounds on rocks off Alaska

An oil drilling rig owned by Royal Dutch Shell Plc ran aground in Alaska after drifting in stormy weather, highlighting the serious risks of working in an offshore region where some in the industry see huge potential.

While the U.S. Coast Guard was concerned about a potential spill from the drillship, named the Kulluk, its hull appeared sound after a few over flights.

Coast Guard Captain Paul Mehler said the Kulluk had 143,000 gallons of ultra-low-sulphur diesel and 12,000 gallons of other oil products on board.

The grounding of the drillship, weighing nearly 28,000 gross tons and operated by Noble Corp , is a blow to Shell's $4.5 billion (2.7 billion pounds) offshore program in Alaska.

The rig had been headed to Puget Sound for maintenance and upgrades when it broke away from one of its tow lines and was driven to rocks just off Kodiak Island that night. The 18-member crew had already been evacuated by the Coast Guard because of risks from the storm.

Nigerian Content: Seawolf Signs N22bn Drilling Contract

Seawolf Oilfields, has been awarded a N22 billion contract for the supply of a jack up rig to the United States oil major, ExxonMobil. This is another major success for Nigerian content development.

A statement by Seawolf noted that the deal will see it supplying its premium jack up, christened ‘JU Oritsetimeyin’, to ExxonMobil for a two year term, commencing third quarter of 2013. The 300ft independent cantilever jack-up rig, JU Oritsetimeyin will commence work with ExxonMobil in the third quarters of 2013, following a refit to meet ExxonMobil’s safety, environment and operational requirements.

Industry experts said the development was indeed an indication of a rapidly rising capacity of indigenous drilling companies in the arena that had long been dominated by foreign firms.

The Seawolf’s Oritsetimeyin, in 2009 build had drilled a total of six oil wells for Total Exploration. Established in April 2007, SeaWolf Oilfields operates three jack up rigs, the Delta Queen, SeaWolf Oritsetimeyin and SeaWolf Onome.