Norway-based Awilco Offshore has penned a $55-million contract extension with oil copmany ConcoPhillips for the floating hotel Port Rigmar.

The rig will continue at the Ekofisk field, one of Norway’s largest hydrocarbon deposits, where work continues apace to upgrade production.

The one-year order extension starts 1 October 2008 for the rig, which is docked in The Netherlands for modifications ahead of its return to Ekofisk in October 2007, a statement Monday said.

The 1979-model jack-up rig was converted into a "housing" platform in 1991. Three years later, Norwegian safety inspectors appeared to have made new safety demands before the rig's use at Ekofisk.