Esgian Rig Analytics Market Roundup (Week 30)

In case you missed it, you can access our previous Rig Market Roundup here.

Esgian Rig Analytics Story

Offshore drilling contractor Noble has recently secured two new contracts for its 350-ft jackup Noble Resolve, which will see the unit move to two different countries outside of the North Sea region, first in Q4 2024 and then in Q2 2025. Read more about how this impacts Noble’s operations and the North Sea fleet here.

Contracts

Valaris has been awarded a multi-year contract with Equinor Energy do Brasil, a subsidiary of Equinor, for the 12,000-ft drillship Valaris DS-17. The contract relates to work on Project Raia offshore Brazil. Equinor’s project partners are Repsol Sinopec Brazil (35%) and Petrobras (30%). Equinor submitted the Declarations of Commerciality and Plans of Development for two development areas in the BM-C-33 concession in the Campos Basin to Brazil’s ANP in September 2023. The concession is located approximately 200 kilometres from Rio de Janeiro, in water depths up to 2,900 meters. The suggested names for the areas were Raia Manta and Raia Pintada. The start-up is expected in 2028. The estimated total value of the drillship contract is approximately $498 million, inclusive of MPD, additional services and fees for mobilisation and minor rig upgrades. The contract has an estimated total duration of 852 days. The contract includes a 672-day drilling programme that is expected to begin in the first half of 2026. The rig will be on standby for an estimated duration of 180 days between the end of its current programme, around mid-2025, and the beginning of the operating period. During the standby period, the rig may be available for work both inside and outside Brazil, which could lead to incremental revenue. Valaris President and Chief Executive Officer, Anton Dibowitz, said: “We see strong customer demand for work that is expected to commence in 2025 and 2026 that will continue to support our anticipated earnings and cash flow growth over the next few years.” The drillship has recently completed the drilling of the Argerich-1 well on CAN-100 offshore Argentina for Equinor, but the well was dry. After this, the rig returned to Brazil to continue working for Equinor.

Noble Corporation has secured a one-well contract for 350-ft jackup Noble Resolve with Central European Petroleum (CEPetro) offshore Poland. The upcoming work will mark Noble’s first drilling campaign in Polish waters. Noble Resolve will drill for CEPetro at the Wolin Concession in the Baltic Sea, beginning in October 2024 in direct continuation of the rig’s special periodic survey. The contract is for 45 days at a dayrate of $140,000. Noble Resolve is currently working for INEOS offshore Denmark. In May of this year, the rig also secured work to carry out a 13-well plug and abandonment campaign offshore Spain, expected to begin in the second quarter of 2025.

Etesco Construções e Comércio Ltda has secured a win in Petrobras’ tender for a jackup drilling rig to conduct P&A operations and assist with decommissioning of fixed platforms at several mature development fields in Brazil. This was Petrobras’ second re-bid. A total of six companies participated, with Etesco winning the bid with an offer of $249,818,134.00 (R$1,408,873,872.00), including mobilisation and additional services. The specific rig awarded has not been disclosed. Esgian estimates the dayrate at $170,000. The contract duration is 1,460 days, with a 150-day option. Mobilisation is expected within 210 days from the contract signing date, with start-up anticipated in early Q1 2025.

Petrobras has exercised a 279-day option for Transocean 10,000-ft drillship Deepwater Mykonos offshore Brazil at a dayrate of $366,000. Deepwater Mykonos has been working for Petrobras offshore Brazil for much of the past decade. This newly exercised priced option keeps the rig with Petrobras into October 2025.

Transocean has confirmed that 12,000-ft drillship Deepwater Invictus was recently awarded a 40-day contract extension in the US GOM, keeping the rig working into August 2024. Deepwater Invictus has been working for an undisclosed client in the US GOM since January 2024 and had previously had its work extended into July. While Transocean has not disclosed a client for the rig, recently filed permits indicate that Deepwater Invictus has worked for Murphy Oil Corporation in recent months. Murphy recently stated that it would be carrying out some repair projects at its Dalmatian development on DeSoto Canyon Block 4 in mid-2024.

Transocean 12,000-ft drillship Deepwater Atlas has been awarded a new two-well contract in the US GOM with Beacon Offshore Energy at a dayrate of $580,000. Beacon also has contingencies in place to use the rig for 20K completions, potentially at a dayrate of $650,000. The 2022-built Deepwater Atlas is equipped with a 1,700-ton hoisting system, a 10,000-psi mud system, and a 20,000-psi well control system. The rig has been working for Beacon in the US GOM since late 2022. Earlier in the year, Beacon awarded the rig a four-well contract at a dayrate of $505,000. This is now expected to run from July 2025 to February 2026. Transocean has revealed that Beacon has contingencies to perform three completions with Deepwater Atlas at the same dayrate, currently scheduled for February to June 2026. The newly fixed two-well contract with Beacon is to run from June 2026 to November 2026 at a dayrate of $580,000. Beacon also has contingencies to perform two completions with the rig using its capabilities of 20,000 pounds per square inch pressure control. These completions would be conducted from November 2026 to January 2027 at a dayrate of $650,000. The firm dayrate of $580,000 represents one of the highest dayrates secured during the current offshore drilling upcycle. Leading edge dayrates for drillships began to push above $500,000 in Q4 2023 for the first time since 2017. Deepwater Atlas is one of two rigs equipped for 20k work; the other being the 12,000-ft sister vessel Deepwater Titan, which is on contract with Chevron in the US GOM. Stena 12,000-ft drillship Stena Evolution will be upgraded for 20K work in 2026.

T7 Global Berhad subsidiary Tanjung Offshore Services Sdn. Bhd. has secured a letter of award from Petronas Carigali for the provision of a low-cost jackup drilling rig for a 53-well plug and abandonment program, understood to be offshore Malaysia. T7 Global has not confirmed a start date for the 53-well P&A programme, but the company expects the award to contribute positively to its earnings in 2024. T7 Global has also not specified the jackup it will use for this newly-awarded project. Market sources have indicated that T7 Global will be purchasing a jackup from outside Southeast Asia to fulfil this role.

Saipem 375-ft jackup Perro Negro 7 will begin its contract suspension from work with Saudi Aramco in the fourth quarter of 2024. This suspension is for up to 12 months. Saudi Aramco placed a number of contracted jackups on suspension this year, affecting rigs managed by ADES, Shelf Drilling, COSL, Egyptian Drilling, Borr Drillling, Arabian Drilling, and ARO Drilling. As Saipem previously revealed, three of its jackups were affected by suspensions. Perro Negro 9 and Perro Negro 10 began their suspensions in the second quarter of the year.

Drilling Activity and Discoveries

Galp is preparing to drill the first of four new exploration and appraisal wells offshore Namibia in the fourth quarter of 2024 and has secured long lead items, rig, logistics and well service contracts for the work. Galp completed the first phase of its Mopane exploration campaign on PEL-83 offshore Namibia in April 2024. The drilling campaign, which used THE Odfjell Drilling-managed 10,000-FT semisubmersible, Hercules, discovered what the company has called “significant oil columns containing light oil in high-quality reservoir sands, potentially positioning Mopane as an important commercial discovery.” Galp fast tracked the upcoming four-well campaign for exploration and appraisal of Mopane earlier this year. The company has selected its drilling locations for this upcoming campaign, remaining in the Mopane complex rather than the northern part of PEL-83. The location of the first and second wells in the programme are set, but Galp said that there could be some flexibility on where the third and fourth wells are drilled in 2025. The company said it is having preliminary discussions with potential partners to support development at Mopane. The company has also said that it is reassessing its decarbonisation targets considering the potential effect of Mopane’s discoveries and the slow execution of renewable developments, along with the forthcoming standards for target setting and measurement.

Partner Woodside has confirmed that TotalEnergies spud the Niamou Marine01 exploration well on Marine XX offshore Republic of Congo in late May 2024. Drilling is currently underway towards a planned well depth of 23,106 ft (7,015 m). The TotalEnergies-operated exploration well is being drilled with Odfjell Drilling 10,000-ft semisubmersible Deepsea Mira, which moved from Namibia to Congo in May 2024. The well, located in 6,870 ft (2,094 m) of water, is targeting oil. The spud date was 24 May 2024. TotalEnergies has Deepsea Mira under contract into the fourth quarter of 2024.

Transocean now expects an upcoming contract for one of its ultra-deepwater drillships offshore Mexico to begin in early 2026 and has expanded the selection of rigs it can assign to this work. In July 2023, Transocean was awarded a 1,080-day contract for a high-spec ultra-deepwater drillship offshore Mexico. While undisclosed by the drilling contractor, the client is understood to be Woodside, for drilling related to the Trion development. At the time of the fixture, the work was scheduled to begin between Q4 2025 and Q2 2026 and as of earlier this year, Transocean was expecting a commencement window of 1 November 2025 to 1 August 2026. Transocean has now updated that commencement window to a range of 1 February 2026 to 1 September 2026. Transocean has currently assigned this contract to the 12,000-ft drillship Deepwater Invictus. However, under the terms of the contract Transocean can also designate another rig for this work. Previously, the company stated that the work could go to Deepwater Invictus, the 12,000-ft Deepwater Proteus or the 12,000-ft Deepwater Thalassa. However, this list has now been expanded to include the 12,000-ft Deepwater Conqueror, with a decision to be made by 1 February 2025. According to information from Transocean, Deepwater Invictus is free after August 2024, while Deepwater Proteus ends its current contract in May 2026, Deepwater Thalassa in February 2026, and Deepwater Conqueror in April 2025. The Trion field is in water depths of 8,200 ft in the Perdido Fold Belt offshore Mexico. Woodside is the operator of the Trion development, which is slated to be the first oil-producing field in Mexico’s deepwater areas. The company’s field development plan for Trion was approved in August 2023. In its most recent quarterly report, Woodside stated that the Trion project continued to progress engineering, procurement, and contracting activities in accordance with the execution plan.

Demand

Antler Global Limited has initiated discussions with rig owners in order to secure a jackup to drill a planned well on block EG-08 offshore Equatorial Guinea in the second half of 2025. The primary prospect for the block, Barracuda, has been identified. The Cardinal and Arrowhead prospects have already been identified. Antler holds an 80% interest in the EG-08 production sharing contract, with national oil company Guinea Ecuatorialde Petroleos holding the remaining 20%. Antler Global and Europa Oil & Gas, which owns 42.9% of Antler, have evaluated seismic data and identified an additional 716 BCF of unrisked prospective resources on the block, bringing the total gross unrisked mean prospective resources on the block to 2.116 TCFe. Antler will be seeking a farm-in partner to accelerate the drilling of an exploration well in 2025, targeting one horizon in the Barracuda prospect. Future wells will target additional upside at Barracuda and throughout the licence. Europa stated that “there appears to be good rig availability over the period when the well is expected to be drilled.”

Bunduq has issued a market survey for one jackup to work on the El Bunduq oil field in 2025. Responses to this survey are due 29 July 2024. Bunduq issued a market survey for a jackup with a water depth capability rating between 40 and 100ft for six workover wells and intervention operations (estimated 120 days). The operations are expected to commence in 2025. The El Bunduq Oil Field is located in the Arabian Gulf, between Abu Dhabi and Qatar, some 200 kilometres northwest and some 100 kilometres off the shores of Abu Dhabi and Doha, respectively. Bunduq currently has the Borr Drilling’s 400-ft jackup Gerd under contract offshore in the UAE into August 2024, with an option to extend that could keep it working into October 2024.

Energean has taken the Final Investment Decision (FID) for the Katlan development project in Israel. The area was discovered by Energean in 2022 and renamed from Olympus to Katlan in 2023. The fields are located in water depths of up to 1,800 metres. The field development plan for Phase 1 (Athena, Zeus, Hera, and Apollo) was approved by the Israeli Government in December 2023. The Katlan area will be developed in a phased approach through a subsea tieback to the existing Energean Power FPSO. The development will extend the production plateau from the FPSO with volumes that do not incur seller royalties or carry export restrictions. The first gas is planned for H1 2027. The EPCI contract for the subsea scope has been awarded to TechnipFMC and includes four-well-slot tieback capacity to a single large ~30-kilometre production line, which can be used by future Katlan area phases. Capital expenditure is expected to be approximately $1.2 billion and it includes, the subsea infrastructure, an upgrade of the FPSO topsides related to MEG treatment, injection and storage and, and the drilling the first two production wells of the development (Athena and Zeus; 170 mmboe (includes 26 bcm of gas) of 2P reserves). Energean also confirmed that the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure had granted the associated 30-year lease for the Katlan area including a 20-year extension option. The Ministry has also ratified the Hermes discovery in the newly named Drakon area (Block 31) made as part of the drilling campaign in 2022.

Brazilian state oil company Petrobras has put out a new tender for up to four floating rigs. Brazilian and international drilling contractors are allowed to compete for terms of three years plus options for two-year extensions. Bids are currently due by 12 August 2024. Tender 7004290025 has been split into three lots, though each term offered is 1,095 days with the option to extend to 1,825 days. Lot 1 is for one high specification, dynamically positioned rig equipped with a managed pressure drilling system, real time riser analysis system, and fairings to suppress marine currents. The start date for this term is from January to March 2026, with the unit given up to 415 days to mobilise to Brazil from the signing of the contract. Lot 2 is for one high specification, dynamically positioned rig with real time riser analysis. This contract is to begin from September 2025 to March 2026, with the unit given 365 days to mobilise from the signing of the contract. Lot 3 is for up to two high specification rigs with dynamic positioning. As in Lot 2, the start date is from September 2025 to March 2026 wjth 365 days for mobilisation. Petrobras already has tenders out in the market for three floating rigs to work at the Sepia, Pedunculo, and Atapu fields and two floating rigs to work at the Roncador field. These contracts are expected to be awarded in 2024 with the rigs to begin work in early 2025. Petrobras currently has 28 floating rigs under contract worldwide, while the12,000-ft drillships Zonda and West Auriga and the 10,000-ft drillship West Polaris, and the 4,600-ft semisubmersible Nanhai 8 are contracted to begin work with Petrobras offshore Brazil by late 2024 to early 2025. Twelve of the floating rigs currently working with Petrobras in Brazil are expected to roll off contract in 2025 or the first half of 2026.

Mobilisation/Rig Moves

Valaris’ 400-ft jackup, the Valaris 123, has completed its contract with Ithaca Energy in the UK North Sea and is moving on to its assignment with Shell. The jackup had started its contract with Ithaca at the Erskine field in April 2024. Following the completion of this contract, the rig is moving to its next location in the UK North Sea to start working for Shell. The contract has an estimated duration of 154 days and an estimated total value of approximately $21 million. During the contract, the rig will work on the Selene exploration well and the Pensacola appraisal well. As Selene and Pensacola will be drilled sequentially, this creates the potential for operational efficiencies associated with being part of an extended programme of wells. Earlier this year, Shell, the operator, and Deltic Energy, a partner, were joined by Dana Petroleum in Licence P2437, which contains the Selene prospect. After the Shell contract, the rig is scheduled to work for TAQA in the Dutch North Sea. The firm part should keep it busy through the first half of 2025, with further options available.

The Odfjell Technology-managed 450-ft jackup Linus has completed its Special Periodic Survey (SPS) and upgrades at a yard in Norway. After leaving the Eldfisk Sierra field, the jackup had arrived for the 10-year SPS at Semco Maritime’s yard in Hanøytangen in mid-May 2024. Following about two months in the yard, spent to ensure it is ready for its next operations, the rig’s SPS and drydocking have been completed. Estimated net capital expenditure for this is approximately $30 million. The SFL Corporation-owned unit is now heading back offshore to continue working under a long-term contract with ConocoPhillips in Norway. The rig is firm with the operator throughout 2028.

Velesto Energy 375-ft jackup Naga 6 has entered Labuan Shipyard in Malaysia for its special periodic survey. The rig is understood to be returning to work with Petronas offshore Malaysia once its yard stay is complete. Naga 6 has a firm contract with Petronas into the first quarter of 2026 and was recently used to drill the Manjakani-1 well offshore Balingian province.

ADES’ 250-ft jackup Admarine 262 left Bahrain on Wednesday, 24 July, and is now on its way to Egypt. Following the contract suspensions from Saudi Aramco for up to 12 months, Admarine 262 was suspended in April and towed to Bahrain’s Arab Shipbuilding and Repair Yard Company (ASRY) to perform class recertifications and contract preparations before departing for its new drilling campaign. The jackup rig was loaded onto a heavy lift vessel and is now en route to Egypt to start a long-term contract with Suez Oil Company (SUCO) in Egypt. The rig is being dry-towed by the Shanghai Zhenhua Shipping heavy lift vessel ZHEN HUA 33, sailing through the Gulf of Oman. The vessel is expected to arrive in Egypt on 7 August. Once in Egypt, the rig will start its 2-year firm contract with SUCO.

Rig Sales

Ventura Offshore has completed its previously announced acquisition of the 2013-built 10,000-ft 6th generation semisubmersible SSV Catarina. The acquisition was announced in late June 2024. SSV Catarina is currently moved to Indonesia to drill for Eni. Previously, Petroserv sold SSV Catarina to UMAS 1 AS, a group of Norwegian investors, in 2022 but remained as manager of the rig. Earlier this year, Petroserv Marine Inc. sold its operating entities to Ventura Offshore In a LinkedIn post, Ventura Offshore CEO Guilherme Coelho stated: “As part of our restructuring, we committed to being opportunistic in our growth strategy. The reacquisition of the SSV Catarina demonstrates our readiness to seize the right opportunities when they arise.”

Other News

Following the provisional award of three blocks as part of the 33rd UK offshore licencing round, Parkmead has now been formally awarded the P2634 licence by the UK Government’s North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA). The licence is situated in the Outer Moray Firth and comprises blocks 14/15a, 14/20d and 15/11a. Parkmead (50% interest and operator), together with its joint venture partner Orcadian Energy (50% interest) will leverage expertise gained in developing challenging crudes to work towards commercialisation of Fynn Beauly, one of the UK’s largest undeveloped discoveries. This heavy oil accumulation has been proven by three wells and is estimated to contain oil-in-place of between 740 million and 1.33 billion barrels. The partnership will now begin to progress the approved three-year work programme to determine whether a technically and economically viable development can be delivered within the NSTA’s Net Zero Strategy. By undertaking geophysical, geochemical, reservoir modelling and production technology studies, the work will assess the feasibility of reducing oil viscosity using enhanced oil recovery techniques. This will include the potential combination of polymer flooding with geothermal heat uplift to improve recovery. Meanwhile, Parkmead is working towards drilling the Skerryvore well, located in the UK Central North Sea Licence P.2400, in 2025.

Canada’s Tenaz Energy has entered into an agreement with Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij B.V. (NAM), a 50/50 joint venture between Shell and ExxonMobil, to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of NAM Offshore B.V. (NOBV), which will make Tenaz the second-largest operator in the Dutch North Sea. The agreement has been made for a base consideration of €165 million ($246 million), prior to closing adjustments and contingent payments. The transaction has an effective date of 1 January 2024 and is expected to close in mid-2025, following statutory merger clearances and operational transition activities. Upon closing, Tenaz will become the second-largest operator in the Dutch North Sea. NOBV production accounts for approximately 20% of gas production in the Dutch North Sea and is 87% operated by NOBV. The acquired assets include substantially all of NAM’s offshore exploration and production business, including associated pipeline infrastructure and onshore processing in the Netherlands. The acquisition does not include NAM’s assets in the Ameland area. The upstream assets consist of a portfolio of production and exploration licences, comprising 2,415 net square kilometres. The licenses are located in shallow water at an average water depth of 34 meters, approximately 60 km offshore. Current production is approximately 11,000 boe/d (99% gas and 87% operated) from six hubs and two main production areas, the Joint Development Area (JDA) and the L02/L09 fields. In addition to existing low-decline production, the acquired asset base is replete with identified workover and optimization projects, infill drilling opportunities and exploration prospects. Capital reinvestment into the assets has been at a low level for more than a decade. As a result, Tenaz believes there is a significant opportunity for reinvestment. Evaluation of NOBV has determined that there are several years of workover and optimization projects, at least 30 potential development drilling locations, and more than 80 exploration leads and prospects on this licence base.

ONGC Videsh Limited, a subsidiary of Indian state oil company ONGC, has signed a definitive sale purchase agreement to acquire a 0.615% participating interest in the Azeri Chirag Gunashli (ACG) oil field offshore Azerbaijan from Equinor. The agreement also includes acquiring 0.737% shares of the Baku Tbilisi Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline company through its wholly-owned subsidiary ONGC BTC Limited. The acquisitions are expected to be completed in the upcoming months for a total investment of up to $60 million. ONGC Videsh already owns a 2.31% interest in ACG and a 2.36% interest in the BTC pipeline. ACG is an offshore oil field in the Caspian Sea operated by bp. Other partners include Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR, MOL, INPEX, ExxonMobil, TPAO and Itochu. Equinor announced an agreement in December 2023 to divest its remaining assets in Azerbaijan to SOCAR, including a 7.27% interest in ACG, 8.71% interest in the BTC pipeline, and a 50% interest in the offshore Karabagh field.

The Lower Saxony Department for Water, Coastal and Nature Conservation (NLWKN) has ordered immediate enforcement of all licences granted to ONE-Dyas related to construction operations for the N05-A project in the North Sea. The construction of a subsea cable between ONE-Dyas’ gas production platform N05-A and Germany’s RIFFGAT wind farm in the North Sea can now start. The NLWKN had already granted the permits to ONE-Dyas in 2022, but they were automatically suspended last month due to objections lodged more than a year and a half later. As a reminder, ONE-Dyas in early June mobilised Borr Drilling’s 400-ft Prospector 1 jackup to work on the N05-A gas field development. However, activists from Greenpeace occupied the rig on 4 June, preventing the start of operations. Following a request for a preliminary injunction by the activists, the Council of State suspended the operator’s permit for offshore operations in the North Sea at least until 12 June 2024, when a hearing was scheduled to be held. The rig was then moved to a port in Schiedam, the Netherlands. On 21 June, the Dutch Council of State (Raad van State) ruled that ONE-Dyas can continue the offshore activities on gas production project N05-A in the North Sea. The NLWKN has now issued another licence as a precautionary measure and ordered the immediate enforcement of all licences. According to ONE-Dyas, installation work in the North Sea will start at the end of July. To produce the first gas in December 2024 as initially planned, the installation work must be completed this summer. Chris de Ruyter van Steveninck, CEO ONE-Dyas, said: “NLWKN’s decision means that we can proceed with all preparations. Soon, the production platform will be towed to the site in the North Sea for installation.” Prospector 1 is still moored in Schiedam, NL.

Dolphin Drilling’s $20 million bank guarantee submitted as part of an ongoing arbitration process with General Hydrocarbons Limited (GHL) has been discharged and is no longer in effect. Dolphin Drilling and GHL have been involved in arbitration regarding the April 2024 termination of a drilling contract for the 6,000-ft  semisubmersible Blackford Dolphin, with Dolphin Drilling citing issues with payments and GHL forcing the rig to remain in Nigerian waters via a court injunction. Blackford Dolphin left Nigerian waters on 1 July 2024 and is currently en route to India for an upcoming contract with Oil India.

Marine engineering and shipyard company Seatrium stated that it has secured contracts for the refit of two jackups and two drillships. The contracts are among a series of repair and upgrade contracts that Seatrium has stated will be completed by the end of 2024. Seatrium did not name the rigs involved but stated that the contracts came from Zonda Drilling AS, Velesto Energy Berhad, and Seadrill Limited. Zonda Drilling AS is understood to be an affiliate company of Eldorado Drilling, which is the owner of the recently delivered drillship Zonda. This 12,000-ft unit has been in a Seatrium yard in Singapore since March 2024, undergoing preparations for an upcoming contract with Petrobras in Brazil, now expected to begin in late 2024 or early 2025. Seadrill 10,000-ft drillship West Polaris is currently at a Seatrium yard in Singapore undergoing contract preparations for its upcoming contract with Petrobras offshore Brazil. The rig was recently handed over to Seadrill’s management by Vantage Drilling. Velesto Energy owns six jackups, which are currently working offshore Malaysia.

Pancontinental Energy and Woodside are continuing the interpretation and analysis of seismic data for licence PEL 87 in the Orange Basin offshore Namibia. Pancontinental is working to finalise a seismic licence with the Namibian authorities, which will establish a long stop date for Woodside’s decision to farm in to the licence. Currently, Pancontinental is the operator of PEL 87 with a 75% interest, while Custos Investments holds 15% and NAMCOR holds 10%. Under a 2023 agreement, Woodside has the option to acquire a 56% interest in PEL 87 from Pancontinental’s holdings. If this option to farm in is exercised, Woodside will commit to drilling an exploration well. The long stop date by which Woodside must exercise its option to farm in to PEL 87 will be 180 days from the date upon which the PEL 87 Joint Venture provides to Woodside a seismic licence to hold ongoing rights to the PEL 87 3D seismic data. Woodside may also exercise this option prior to the long stop date, as the establishment of the seismic licence is not a prerequisite. A 3D seismic survey on PEL 87 was carried out in 2023. Pancontinental has been focusing on interpreting sequences within Cretaceous petroleum systems and has engaged an independent consultant to undertake an amplitude vs offset study of the data.

UK-based KCA Deutag and the U.S.-based Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (H&P) have announced a definitive agreement under which KCA Deutag will be acquired by H&P for $1.9725 billion in cash. H&P designs, fabricates and operates drilling rigs around the world, primarily focusing on onshore. The company also develops and implements automation, directional drilling and survey management technologies. KCA Deutag operates or owns 167 drilling rigs across the Middle East, Europe, Africa, Caspian Sea, Latin America, and Canada. The transaction adds a complementary asset-light offshore management contract business, primarily comprising 29 offshore platform rigs under KCA Deutag management, and KCA Deutag’s manufacturing and engineering business (Kenera) with three facilities serving the oilfield service industry. The company also manages two 460-ft CJ70 jackups, Askeladden and Askepott, which are currently operating under long-term contracts with Equinor in Norway. The transaction is expected to close prior to calendar 2024 year-end, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. On completion, combined with KCA Deutag’s global operations, H&P will have “leading positions” in the U.S. and Middle East, the two most prominent oil and gas-producing regions in the world. President and CEO of H&P, John Lindsay, commented, “This is a historic and transformative transaction for the company, and we are excited about what this means for H&P’s future, as it accelerates our international expansion particularly in the Middle East and enhances the company’s global leadership in onshore drilling solutions.” Lindsay added: “Acquiring KCA Deutag gives H&P immediate scale in core Middle East markets in a way that would be challenging to replicate organically.” Namely, the transaction increases H&P’s Middle East rig count from 12 rigs to 88 rigs; positioning the company as one of the largest rig providers in the Middle East market.

The waiting period under the Hart-Scott Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 for the pending merger of offshore drilling contractors Noble Corporation and Diamond Offshore has expired. Completion of the transaction is now subject to remaining customary closing conditions, including approval by Diamond’s stockholders and the receipt of informal clearance by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission. Diamond Offshore will hold a special meeting of stockholders to vote on the transaction on 27 August 2024. Noble announced its agreement to acquire Diamond in June 2024 in a stock plus cash transaction. The transaction is expected to close by the first quarter of 2025.

Hibiscus Petroleum Berhad’s indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, Hibiscus Oil & Gas Malaysia Limited (HML), has been awarded a 65% participating interest and operatorship in a Production Sharing Contract (PSC) located offshore Malaysia by Petronas. The remaining interest is held by Petronas Carigali. The effective date of the PSC is 1 July 2024 with a contract duration of 24 years. The PSC consists of four discovered resource opportunities, namely Pertang, Kenarong, Noring, and Bedong fields, which are located in shallow waters between 65 and 75 meters depth offshore the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. The cluster is located to the south, and within tie-back distance of the PM3 Commercial Arrangement Area PSC which is operated by HML.

Jadestone Energy has been awarded through the Malaysia Bid Round Plus (MBR+) a 100% participating interest in a Small Field Asset Production Sharing Contract (SFA Cluster PSC) offshore Peninsular Malaysia by Petronas. The SFA Cluster PSC is located in shallow waters. It is surrounded by the PM428 PSC, in which a 60% operated interest was awarded to Jadestone earlier in 2024 through the MBR 2023. The SFA Cluster PSC award was effective from 1 July 2024. Jadestone has secured a bank guarantee amounting to $0.5 million in favour of Petronas to undertake the minimum work commitment in the initial phase of the PSC. The SFA Cluster PSC includes the Penara, Puteri, Padang, and North Lukut fields, assets in which Jadestone previously held a 50% non-operated interest (through the PM318 PSC and the Abu, Abu Kecil, Bubu, North Lukut and Penara PSC) following the company’s entry into Malaysia in August 2021. The SFA Cluster PSC fields were producing at a gross rate of 5,000 boe/d in early 2022 prior to production shut-in. Jadestone currently estimates that the SFA Cluster PSC contains c.15 mmbbls of gross 2C contingent resources. Jadestone believes there is the potential for significant upside from future infill drilling across the existing SFA Cluster fields as well as prospects and leads on the surrounding PM428 PSC. The company intends to continue its technical assessment of the SFA Cluster prior to submission of a field development and abandonment plan to Petronas.

Image credit: Transocean