This week Libongos was awarded a 12-well extension in Angola, while Murphy exercised a one-well charter for Deepwater Asgard in the US Gulf. Meanwhile, two newbuild jackups have mobilised from Singapore to Saudi Arabia ahead of contract commencement with Saudi Aramco.
In case you missed it, you can access our previous Rig Market Round-Up here.
Contracts
BP recently exercised a 14-day option for jackup Valaris Norway in the UK North Sea, keeping the rig working with BP into November 2022. The 400-ft jackup has been with BP offshore the United Kingdom since May 2022. With this recently-exercised option, the rig’s upcoming contract with Centrica Storage in UK waters is now expected to run from November 2022 to March 2023.
Murphy has exercised its one-well charter for Transocean drillship Deepwater Asgard at $395,000 per day. This comes before the operator has commenced its initial firm one-well programme, which is scheduled to begin later this month at the same dayrate. This also closes the gap in commitments for Deepwater Asgard, which has a firm charter directly following Murphy’s campaign that will keep the rig working into January 2024. The job with this unnamed operator also has three one-year options.
Sonadrill, Seadrill’s 50/50 JV with an affiliate of Sonangol, has been awarded a 12-well extension in Angola with ENI for the ultra-deepwater drillship Libongos. The total value for the contract award is approximately USD 327 million, including additional services, and the dayrate is USD 402,500. The contract is expected to commence in Q4 2022, after its current contract with ENI ends, and the contract duration for the firm period is approximately 25 months.
BP recently exercised a 14-day option for jackup Valaris Norway in the UK North Sea, keeping the rig working with BP into November 2022. The 400-ft jackup has been with BP offshore the United Kingdom since May 2022. With this recently-exercised option, the rig’s upcoming contract with Centrica Storage in UK waters is now expected to run from November 2022 to March 2023.
Valaris 400-ft harsh environment jackup Valaris 123 has secured a 90-day contract with an undisclosed operator in the North Sea. The contract is expected to commence in November 2022. This is the first new contract for the jackup since it completed work for Capricorn in September 2022.
Drilling Activity and Discoveries
Petrobras has made an oil discovery with the 4-BRSA-1386D-RJS well in the Coparticipated Area of Sepia.
The well was spudded on 31 July in 2,197m of water. The operator says the net oil column is one of the thickest ever recorded in Brazil. Operations will continue to characterise the conditions of the reservoirs and to verify the extent of the discovery.
CGX Energy and Frontera have revised the spud window for the Wei-1 exploration well, offshore Guyana, and the well is now expected to be spud between December 2022 and late January 2022, subject to the rig release by the third-party operator. The semisub Maersk Discoverer is contracted to drill the Wei-1, but the release from its current contract has been delayed due to unforeseen challenges to the exploration activities.
Neptune Energy announced that drilling of the exploration well Calypso has commenced. The exploration well (6407/8-8S) is being drilled by Odfjell Drilling operated semi Deepsea Yantai in the Neptune operated PL 938 Licence. The drilling programme includes a main-bore, with an optional side-track based on the outcome of the exploration well. If a commercial discovery is made, then Calypso could be tied back to existing infrastructure.
Mobilisation and Rig Moves
Jackup newbuilds ArabDrill 110 (Ex-Fecon 3) and ArabDrill 120 (Ex-Clearwater B Class4) left Singapore this week on a heavy-lift vessel and are mobilizing to Saudi Arabia where the rigs will be crewed and commence the contracts with Saudi Aramco. The two jackups were contracted to Arabian Drilling Company on a bareboat charter earlier this year, and will commence a 3-year contract with Saudi Aramco (each) with options for a year’s extension. The contracts will commence in Q4 2022.
Rig Transactions
Valaris has signed an agreement to sell jackup Valaris 54 for USD 28.5 million, expected to close in March 2023 upon the completion of its current contract with Saudi Aramco. The 300-ft Valaris 54 is a F&G L-780 Mod II-C design rig that was delivered in 1982. It recently secured a 204-day contract extension with Saudi Aramco that keeps it working until March 2023.
GVA 7500 semisubmersible La Muralla IV has been sold to Mexican drilling contractor Operadora CICSA. The semisub has been stacked since its contract with Shell ended in July 2021. The semisub was ordered to be sold after the owner LaForta filed for Chapter 11 in the Southern District of Texas. The rig was sold to the highest bidder, Operadora CICSA, for the amount of USD 60 million.
Other News
Ireland’s Department of the Environment Climate and Communications (DECC) is seeking more financial information from Barryroe Offshore Energy in regards to its lease undertaking application for the Barryroe field offshore Ireland. Read more here…
Shell has completed the sale of its 100% shareholding in Shell Philippines Exploration (SPEX) to Malampaya Energy XP, a subsidiary of Prime Infrastructure Capital (Prime Infra). The sale has an effective date of 1 November 2022. SPEX, under the ownership of Prime Infra, will continue to hold a 45% operating interest in the Malampaya offshore gas field. The project partners are UC38, a subsidiary of Udenna Corp, which holds 45% interest, and PNOC Exploration, which holds the other 10% interest.
Dolphin Drilling has confirmed that it has been re-approved as an official rig supplier and will be invited to participate in upcoming rig tenders with Petrobras. Dolphin used to operate several rigs that worked off Brazil. CEO Bjørnar Iversen noted, “In line with our new strategy, we are prioritising marketing rig operations in Africa, the Americas, and the North Sea. We have operational licenses and drilling management systems in place to operate all types of drilling assets.”
Offshore drilling contractor Transocean Limited reported a net loss of USD28 million for the third quarter of 2022, compared to a loss of USD68 million in the second quarter of 2022. Read more here…
Offshore drilling contractor Valaris Limited reported net income of USD78 million for the third quarter of 2022, compared to USD113 million in second quarter 2022. Revenues for the quarter were at USD437 million, up from USD413 million in second quarter 2022 due to higher utilization and higher average day rates across the fleet. Read more here…
Offshore drilling company Noble Corporation reported net income of USD34 million for the third quarter of 2022, compared to USD37 million in second quarter 2022. The company’s total revenue for the quarter was USD306 million, up from 275 million in the preceding quarter. Read more here…
