LONDON, April 27 (Reuters) - North Sea oil and gas producerChrysaor is embarking on a drilling campaign under a three-yearpartnership with oil services firm Baker Hughes using aRowan Gorilla VII jack-up rig, Chrysaor said on Friday.
Chrysaor is one of a group of private equity-backed NorthSea oil and gas producers that have bought up assets fromtraditional producers such as Shell and OMV.
Backed by Harbour Energy, an investment vehicle of EIGGlobal Energy Partners, Chrysaor has stakes in 10 fields andproduces around 130,000 barrels per day of oil and gas, makingit the largest independent North Sea producer.
Chrysaor's contract with Baker Hughes sees both companiesshare the "risks and rewards associated with both the operationsand reservoir outcomes", Chrysaor said, without providingdetails.
Baker Hughes has contracted the Rowan rig for 18 months withan option to extend by a further two years. The first well ofthe campaign will be a side-track Chrysaor's Maria field in theArmada hub northwest of Scotland and is expected to start earlynext month.
"Our initial Maria drilling campaign is the first phase ofthe redevelopment plans for our operated fields," Chrysaor ChiefExecutive Phil Kirk said in a statement.
"With the application of focused capital and expertise webelieve that we can increase recovery factors, add to ourreserve base and extend the field life of the assets."
The companies did not immediately respond to a request forfurther details.(Reporting by Shadia Nasralla; Editing by Mark Potter)