Oil Patch Insider

Rowan rig to drill Cosmo; Stallion buys Rowan’s Alaska camps; Moore named to Shell’s Alaska team

Houston-based Rowan Companies, an international offshore and land drilling contractor, is bringing its first drill rig to Alaska in many years.

Rowan 68, a brand new rig, is coming to Alaska in July from Texas to drill the Pioneer Natural Resources-operated Cosmopolitan prospect offshore the lower Kenai Peninsula. The rig will be drilling horizontally from an onshore pad. (See story in the Feb. 25 issue of Petroleum News.)

According to Tadd Owens, director of government and public affairs for Pioneer in Alaska, as of June 6 Rig 68’s contract was transferred from Pioneer in Texas to Pioneer in Alaska.

“We intend to keep the rig here as long as we have work for it,” Owens said.

How long has it been since Rowan was a rig contractor in Alaska? Best guess among Petroleum News sources is 1985, but Rowan’s 2001 annual report shows two idle land rigs in the state as late as 2000. (Watch for update on this in next Oil Patch Insider.)

Rowan 68 is described as a “substantially rebuilt” rig on the company’s web page, but Danny Patterson, vice president drilling for Rowan, told Petroleum News in early June that Rig 68 is “brand new. … It came out in late March or April; it’s our new AC design with joystick controls. … It’s a very modern, very updated rig, with all the latest technology.”

So, is Rowan, the last company to bring a jack-up into Alaska waters, interested in more work in Alaska?

“The rig will have some downtime there while they’re evaluating that first well. We might look for work from other contractors, but the rig is under contract to Pioneer, so it would be on loan from Pioneer. But we might pursue that if the rig is just sitting there,” Patterson said.

“But we might do another well while evaluating the first well – we might start drilling another right after drilling that one.”

“Currently,” Patterson said, “we’re not seeking any other work in Alaska. We’ve been out of there for a number of years, but that’s not to say we won’t. We’ll see where it takes us. Rowans always eager to enter an area where we feel we can go in and do well.”

F.Y.I. Rowan first entered Alaska in 1966. But drilling here proved to be challenging, especially transporting rigs. So, the company purchased ERA Helicopters in 1967, which it has since sold.

—Kay Cashman

Stallion buys Rowan’s Prudhoe camps; one being refurbished, available end of year

Five of the camps are leased at Prudhoe Bay, but the sixth is being completely refurbished, Stallion communications director Donna Smith told Petroleum News. The camp will be complete and available for lease by the end of 2007.

Rowan Vice President Danny Patterson told Petroleum News June 7 that his company had sold the camps because Rowan was concentrating on its core business – drilling.

“Camps are a good business, but our core business is drilling. But it’s a core business for Stallion, so it worked out for both companies,” Patterson said. “Stallion … has the ability to build camps in a rapid manner. Of the companies I know, if I needed a camp, I would definitely get Stallion involved. It’s a very aggressive company.”

—Kay Cashman

Moore named Shell’s operations manager in Alaska

Moore’s previous position with Shell involved procuring major oilfield facilities for Shell’s international operations — she was also involved in the management of development projects in Nigeria and Brazil.

In the late 1990s Moore was the commissioning manager for the Ursa tension leg platform in the Gulf of Mexico.

In Alaska, she is operations manager for Sivulliq (formerly called Hammerhead) and will provide operations support for all of Shell’s future activities in the state.

Moore is also responsible for the company’s oil spill response program in Alaska and will act as its deputy incident commander.

—Alan Bailey