Neptune Energy today announced the award of a $21.4m contract to Borr Drilling, consolidating development, exploration and P&A activities in the Dutch and UK sectors of the North Sea, and reducing costs and operational emissions.

The activities will be carried out by Borr Drilling’s new Prospector 1 jack-up rig which is equipped with technologies that reduce carbon and nitrogen emissions from its operations by up to 95% .

The approach complements Neptune Energy’s commitment to working with supply chain partners to maximise efficiency and reduce operational emissions across its growing portfolio of assets and development projects.

Neptune Energy’s Global Head of Drilling & Wells, Brett McIntyre, said: “Previous drilling contracts have traditionally been awarded at a country level, but by consolidating these workscopes we have adopted a more collaborative and efficient approach with Borr Drilling.

“We have an exciting programme of activities planned to support the growth of our global business, and this is an excellent example of how E&P companies and supply chain can work together, adopting the latest technologies and commercial models to improve efficiency and reducing emissions across a variety of offshore activities.”

The Prospector 1 uses a Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) System which reduces emissions of nitrogen (NOx) and carbon (COx).

Harvey Snowling, Chief Operating Officer, Borr Drilling, said: “We are delighted to be awarded this work scope and look forward to working with Neptune once again for this upcoming campaign. This contract award demonstrates our focused collaboration to deliver consistently safe, efficient, high quality drilling services to our customer.

“We are always looking for ways to improve the efficiency of our operations and to reduce our impact on the environment and the installation of a SCR system on Prospector 1 represents a major step on our sustainability journey.”

The contract includes an option for an additional three wells after the initial seven-month drilling campaign is completed.

Last week Neptune announced its annual results for 2020, highlighting new projects coming online this year in Norway and Indonesia, as well as longer term prospects in Norway and the UK that will increase production to around 200 kboepd in 2023.