Baker Hughes Incorporated reported that its subsidiary has chartered a new state-of-the-art pressure pumping vessel that will provide offshore stimulation services to Maersk Oil in the North Sea. Upon completion, scheduled for late 2013, the Blue Orca will become the eighth vessel in the Baker Hughes fleet.

"We are pleased to be working with Maersk Oil as we expand our current fleet into the North Sea," said Art Soucy, Baker Hughes' President of Global Products & Services. "Our full cadre of world-class stimulation vessels offers customers the capacity, performance and redundancy for round-the-clock operations that are needed in today's offshore plays. We are committed to operating safely and efficiently while continuing to build on our pressure pumping market leadership and the challenging offshore environments where operators need us to be."

The Blue Orca will be rated to 15,000 psi and will offer among the largest fluid and proppant carrying capacities in the world. It will provide 15,000 hydraulic horsepower pumping capacity and the ability to pump at rates well in excess of 60 bpm. Engineering work on the marine and stimulation systems has already begun.

"Stimulation of long horizontal wells is one of Maersk Oil's key technologies and vital for economic development of our tight chalk reservoirs," said Mary Van Domelen, Maersk Oil's Stimulation Team Leader. "We appreciate the opportunity to work with Baker Hughes to deliver a new state-of-the-art stimulation vessel and look forward to welcoming the Blue Orca to the North Sea."

The Blue Orca will join Baker Hughes' other stimulation vessels - including the company's newest additions to the Gulf of Mexico: Blue Tarpon and the Blue Dolphin. The vessels support offshore completion operations and will be equipped to support high-rate and high-volume multi-zone fracturing operations.

"Our pressure pumping vessels offer enhanced safety systems with redundant back-up blending and pumping capabilities," said Lindsay Link, Baker Hughes' President of Pressure Pumping. "When it comes to performing multi-zone, high-rate, high-pressure completions, our vessels are reliable, efficient and minimize delays in high-cost offshore environments, where time is of the essence for the operators on behalf of whom we are working."

Tags: Baker Hughes Incorporated