Maersk Drilling has secured work for one year and three quarters for the jackup rig Maersk Reacher in the Danish part of the North Sea.

The contract is expected to take effect in July 2022, by which point Maersk Reacher will spend the following 21 months carrying out an assignment for TotalEnergies E&P Denmark.

The new contract was announced in a press release by Maersk Drilling and includes an option to extend by an additional 27 months.

"We’re happy to build further on our long-standing collaboration with TotalEnergies by adding this long-term contract which means that two of our rigs will be working for TotalEnergies in Danish waters this year," says Head of the North Sea Division at Maersk Drilling Claus Bachmann.

Maersk Reacher is currently on assignment for Norway's Aker but has become available after Maersk Drilling and Aker came to an agreement earlier this week to swap drilling rigs as of the end of February. At that point, Maersk Reacher will be replaced by low-emission rig Mask Integrator. Meanwhile, Aker also extended the contract by eight months to January 2023.

The press release contains no information on the value of the new contract with TotalEnergies.

Norwegian authorities have no objections to Maersk Drilling-Noble merger

Maersk Drilling and Aker BP extend collaboration by five years

Maersk Drilling CEO receives warning for verbally abusing subordinate