Esgian Rig Analytics Market Roundup (Week 33)

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

Contracts

Borr Drilling 400-ft jackup Prospector 1 has secured a contract extension with ONE-Dyas for work offshore the UK and the Netherlands, scheduled to run from February to April 2025. Prospector 1 was scheduled to work for ONE-Dyas offshore in the North Sea at this time but the rig has been in port due to legal challenges. On 14 August 2024, ONE-Dyas stated that it had received permits for the development of the N05-A gas field and surrounding prospects in the German part of the North Sea and had all approvals in Germany and the Netherlands for its Dutch-German energy project. The rig is now scheduled to work with ONE-Dyas through October 2024, then begin a previously-fixed term with an undisclosed operator in the Netherlands from November 2024 to January 2025, after which it will return to work with ONE-Dyas under the contract extension.

Shelf Drilling 300-ft jackup Harvey H. Ward has received a notice of suspension from Saudi Aramco for up to one year. The suspension is expected to start in September 2024. The 1981-built Harvey H. Ward is working under a long-term contract offshore Saudi Aramco that began in mid-2023. With the new suspension, Harvey H. Ward is expected to be under suspension from September 2024 to September 2025, then resume work with Saudi Aramco into March 2029 with a two-year option available after this. Shelf Drilling has the right to market the rig during the suspension period. Saudi Aramco suspended four Shelf Drilling jackups in a round of suspensions earlier this year. The operator is understood to be targeting five jackups in this most recent round of suspensions and has already issued notices to Valaris / ARO Drilling and Arabian Drilling.

Shelf Drilling 350-ft jackup Shelf Drilling Mentor has secured a two-well contract with an undisclosed operator offshore Nigeria. The contract is expected to commence in August 2024 and run into October 2024. Shelf Drilling Mentor has been working for Oriental Energy Resources at the Okwok field since October 2023; this contract is also scheduled to end this month.

Drilling Activity and Discoveries

Petronas is preparing to spud the Silungen-1 exploration well offshore Sarawak, Malaysia. Drilling is expected to start around 16 August using Japan Drilling’s Hakuryu-5 semisubmersible drilling rig. The drilling activity is expected to take 70 days to complete.  The 3rd generation, 1,640-ft semisubmersible unit has been on a contract with Petronas since September 2022. The rig is understood to have most recently drilled the Sinsing-2 well. The results have yet to be disclosed. Expected to remain with Petronas until early October 2024, the Hakuryu-5 is will then move to a shipyard for an extended period before relocating to Japan to begin a CCS campaign.

Odfjell Drilling’s 6th generation 10,000-ft semisub Deepsea Atlantic, has completed its SPS and is now en route to start a contract with Equinor.The rig, which left the CCB Base yard in Norway on Sunday, has the Ringand prospect set as its next location. The Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD) granted Equinor a drilling permit for the exploration well 31/1-4, targeting the Ringand prospect, in July. The well site is located in production licence 923 B, in the Norwegian section of the North Sea. The production licence is operated by Equinor in partnership with DNO and Petoro. Drilling is expected to take about 65 days upon discovery. Equinor has also recently secured a permit for another well in the North Sea, which will also be drilled with the Deepsea Atlantic.

Chevron has started oil and natural gas production from the Anchor project in the deepwater US GOM. Production at Anchor uses technology rated to operate at up to 20,000 psi. Reservoir depths at the project reach 34,000 ft below sea level. The Anchor development will consist of seven subsea wells tied into the Anchor FPU, located in the Green Canyon area in water depths of around 5,000 feet offshore Louisiana. The Anchor FPU has a design capacity of 75,000 gross BOE/d and 27 million gross cubic feet/d of natural gas. Drilling at Anchor is begin carried out with Transocean 12,000-ft drillship Deepwater Titan, which began work with Chevron in mid-2023 and will continue with the company into 2028. Deepwater Titan is equipped with two 20,000-psi BOPs and other equipment for high-pressure drilling and completion operations. Chevron is the operator and holds a 62.86 percent working interest in the Anchor project. TotalEnergies E&P USA, Inc. holds a 37.14 percent working interest.

Borr Drilling 400-ft jackup Ran has begun work with Wintershall offshore Mexico. Wintershall are using the rig to appraise its Kan discovery, made in 2023 on Block 30. Ran began work for Wintershall in early August 2024, in direct continuation of a well-based drilling program with TotalEnergies. The rig is expected to remain with Wintershall into December 2024. Wintershall recently had its license for Block 30 extended until June 2025.

Borr Drilling 400-ft jackup Gunnlod has concluded operations with PTTEP offshore Malaysia as of mid-August 2024. The rig had started work for PTTEP in May 2024 and most recently was used for appraisal drilling at Block SK 417. Gunnlod recently secured a letter of award for work offshore Malaysia, currently scheduled to run from November 2024 to May 2025.

Following the completion of work with Petronas Carigali offshore Malaysia, Borr Drilling 400-ft jackup Thor is preparing to commence work for Hoang Long JOC offshore Vietnam in August 2024. Thor secured a letter of award for this work during the first quarter of 2024. The Hoang Long Joint Operating Company carries out exploration and production on Block 16-1 offshore Vietnam.

Shelf Drilling jackup 350-ft jackup Shelf Drilling Resourceful has moved to drill offshore Tunisia for Eni. The rig is understood to be working at the Maamoura natural gas field. The rig is working under a three-year contract with Eni that began in August 2023 and was working offshore Italy until July 2024. Eni is expected to utilize the rig offshore Tunisia into October 2024, then return to work offshore Italy. Eni still has four six-month options available for the rig available.

Shelf Drilling (North Sea) 400-ft jackup Shelf Drilling Fortress has started a new contract with TotalEnergies in the UK. The rig completed its contract with CNOOC in UK waters earlier this month. Shelf Drilling Fortress secured the 400-ft contract with TotalEnergies in April 2024.

Ventura Offshore 10,000-ft semisubmersible SSV Catarina has left the Balikpapan offshore anchorage site to start drilling for Eni. The rig arrived off Balikpapan, Indonesia, on 29 July and remained there until approximately 10 August, before heading offshore to begin its contract with Eni According to the rig’s AIS, its destination is the Kadal-1 exploration well site in the East Ganal working area, located in the Makassar Strait, East Kalimantan.

Aker BP has secured consent from the Norwegian Ocean Industry Authority (Havtil) to conduct exploration drilling in block 6507/5, located within production licence 212 in the Norwegian Sea. The company will use Saipem’s Scarabeo 8 semisubmersible drilling rig to drill the 6507/5-13 S exploration well, which is targeting the E-prospect. The water depth in the site is 382 metres (1253 ft). The consent also includes drilling of shallow gas pilot 6507/5-U-5. The 10,000-ft Scarabeo 8 is under a firm contract with Aker BP until early 2026 with with additional options available thereafter.

ADES 400-ft jackup Admarine 502 is about to begin its contract in Thailand. The KFELS B Class rig arrived in Thailand from Bahrain earlier this month, transported by the heavy lift vessel Hua Yang Long. In a social media post on Thursday, ADES confirmed that Admarine 502 is ready to commence operations in the Gulf of Thailand, marking the company’s entry into its ninth country of operation. The rig has a firm contract into Q1 2026, with PTTEP holding a nine-month extension option thereafter.

The Norwegian Environment Agency (Miljødirektoratet) has received an application from Equinor for the drilling of an exploration well in the Norwegian Sea. Equinor plans to use the Deepsea Atlantic semisubmersible drilling rig to drill the 6406/6-7 S well, targeting the Mistral Sør prospect. Water depth at the location in production licence 1119 is 260 metres (853 ft). Drilling is planned to start in October 2024 at the earliest, and, in case of a discovery, will take 60 days to complete. It is worth noting that Odfjell Drilling’s 6th generation 10,000-ft semisubmersible Deepsea Atlantic recently completed its Special Periodic Survey (SPS) and has now moved on to start a contract with Equinor, with its first assignment being a wildcat drilling operation in the North Sea.

Valeura Energy has started production from the first wells of its Nong Yao C development in the Gulf of Thailand. The first three of the seven development wells were opened up for oil production on August 15, 2024, with additional wells to be brought online successively thereafter. Production volume ramp-up will continue, with the goal of reaching peak production rates of approximately 11,000 bbls/s at the Nong Yao field in the coming weeks. All the development wells at Nong Yao C were drilled using the Borr Drilling jackup Mist, which has been on a contract with Valeura Energy since early 2023. Valeura Energy’s CEO Sean Guest said the Nong Yao C drilling programme had also appraised several upside targets, which the company expects to both contribute to reserves and resources when evaluated at year-end, and may form the basis of future infill drilling to sustain output volumes further into the future. The company said earlier in August that the Mist rig would move to start an infill drilling programme on the Jasmine field immediately following the release of the rig from Nong Yao C. This will include five development wells aimed at boosting production, as well as up to two appraisal wells to assess potential future development targets. The company at the time said it still anticipated drilling the Ratree exploration prospect, on Licence B5/27 “in due course.” The 350-ft Mist has a firm contract with Valeura until September 2025, with an option thereafter that could keep the rig busy with Valeura Energy in Thailand until the end of 2026.

Demand

Chevron proposes developing seven backfill fields to maintain gas supply to the existing gas plants on Barrow Island, as part of the next phase of Gorgon development, offshore Western Australia. The fields in question are Chandon, Chrysaor, Dionysus, Eurytion, Geryon, Semele and West Tryal Rocks. Water depths in the area range from ~150 metres (~492ft) to 1,400 metres (4593ft), but most fields are in water depths greater than 800 metres (2625 ft), meaning a floating drilling rig is expected to be used. Drilling activities to start the development of the first field are proposed to start in Q3 2026. While the order of the development of the seven fields has not yet been finalised, Geryon and Eurytion have been earmarked as the next fields to be developed and are anticipated to be co-developed and use common infrastructure. Chevron’s proposed plan is now open for public comments until 1 Nov 2024. Chevron has not drilled an offshore well in Australia since 2020. Next year, the company plans to drill two exploration wells, Wheatstone Deep-1 and Dino South-1, the North Carnarvon Basin, using Diamond Offshore’s Ocean Apex semisubmersible drilling rig.

Coastal Oil and Gas has signed a binding Heads of Agreement (“HoA”) with a rig contractor establishing the key commercial terms for a rig contract. The rig would be deployed in the Carnarvon Basin, offshore Australia.Coastal Oil and Gas plans to use the rig to drill at its shallow water permits EP 475, EP 90, EP 491, and TP/27. These permits were previously collectively known as “Cerberus” but now named “Jacobson”. The project has been renamed Jacobson in honour of the recent passing of the founding Director of Coastal, Ted Jacobson. The news of the rig HoA was shared by Bounty Oil & Gas, Coastal’s partner in the Jacobson licences. The drilling programme will consist of two firm wells and one contingent well, each with and expected duration of 20 days, along with one optional well of 20 days, across the Jacobson project. Although Bounty did not specify the type of rig to be hired, the water depths at the sites suggest a jackup drilling rig could be used. On the current indicative schedule, the Jacobson program is slated for late 2025, second behind another operator subject to availability and timing of approvals, Bounty said. Key conditions for the drilling to materialize include all regulatory approvals including tenure on the Jacobson titles; funding by the rig contractor to complete modifications and deployment to Australia from its current location in Asia; payment of a non-refundable booking fee of $250,000 within 6 months; inspection of the rig by Coastal’s selected independent 3rd party and their confirmation that it meets the required standards to drill for Coastal. Operating rates and other categories of rates are at an advanced stage of negotiation and are included in the HoA, Bounty said. Coastal, on behalf of the licence partners, will be responsible for the cost of mobilisation and demobilisation of the rig.

Seadrill 7,874-ft semisubmersible West Phoenix has completed its contract with Vår Energi and is now docked in Hanøytangen, Norway. Seadrill executives said that the company sees limited contracting options for the unit in the near term and that based on current outlook, the soonest opportunity for the rig to work is the second half of 2025. Seadrill said that they would stack the rig in absence of a contract that justifies the over $100 million investment required for the rig to continue operating in Norway. The 2008-built harsh environment rig had been working for Vår Energi since August 2021, most recently at a dayrate of $359,000. West Phoenix has its main class annual survey due by the end of the year.

The Norwegian Offshore Directorate has granted DNO a drilling permit for the 2/6-7 S exploration well in the North Sea, targeting the Falstaff prospect. The well is located in production licence 1086, at a water depth of 56.3 metres (184.7 feet). DNO is the operator of the licence, with Petoro, Aker BP, and Source Energy as partners. Drilling is expected to start in September 2024. Pre-drill volumes for Falstaff have been estimated to 25-184 MMboe, with a medium chance for success. DNO will utilise Noble’s 492-ft Noble Invincible jackup drilling rig for the operation, which is anticipated to last approximately 40 days. The rig is currently under contract with Aker BP. After completing the work for DNO, the jackup will return to Aker BP under the terms of a frame agreement between Noble and Aker BP, which extends into November 2027.

Shell has taken a Final Investment Decision (FID) on a waterflood project at the Vito field in the US GOM. Water will be injected into the reservoir formation to displace additional oil to adjacent production wells. The process is due to begin in 2027. Shell stated that this would enhance the volume capacity at the Vito field and re-pressurize the reservoir, with an expected increase in recoverable resource volume of 60 million BOE. The three water injection wells at the field were drilled as pre-producers. The Vito field is located in over 4,000 ft of water offshore Louisiana. Shell and its partner Equinor announced an FID for Vito in April 2018, with first oil achieved in February 2023.

Borr Drilling has confirmed that the remaining contract with Saudi Aramco for 400-ft jackup Arabia I has been terminated following the contract suspension earlier this year. Arabia I recently secured a new contract with Petrobras offshore Brazil. Borr received a notice of suspension for Arabia I in April 2024. Before this, the rig had been expected to remain on contract with Saudi Aramco offshore Saudi Arabia until the end of October 2025, with a possible one year extension thereafter. Although the suspension was for up to 12 months with work to resume thereafter, Borr Drilling elected to terminate the contract entirely in late June 2024. Arabia I subsequently was awarded a four-year contract with Petrobras offshore Brazil, to begin in the first quarter of 2025. Borr secured the work in conjunction  with Brazilian company Etesco. Borr Drilling CEO Patrick Schorn commented, “I’m particularly pleased that, following the unexpected suspension in Saudi Arabia, we successfully obtained a replacement contract that should be advantageous for the coming four years due to its higher day rate and longer contract duration.”

Shelf Drilling has terminated the suspended contracts with Saudi Aramco for jackups Main Pass IV and Shelf Drilling Achiever. Both rigs are being mobilized to West Africa, where the company is marketing them for contract opportunities. Shelf expects both rigs to commence new contracts in the fourth quarter of 2024. Shelf Drilling began marketing the rigs internationally following the announcement of the 12-month contract suspensions in early April 2024. The rigs mobilized from the Middle East to West Africa in late June 2024 and are scheduled to arrive in September 2024. Before the termination, Main Pass IV had around 320 days left on its contract with Aramco while Shelf Drilling Achiever had around 590 days left. Shelf had four jackups suspended during Aramco’s first round of suspensions. A fifth jackup owned by Shelf is to be suspended in September 2024.

SFL Corporation CEO Ole Hjertaker stated that the company is in dialogue with various oil companies about potential charters for its semisubmersible Hercules, but has not yet secured any follow-on work for the rig after its current contract offshore Canada. Hercules is a 10,000-ft 6th generation harsh environment semisubmersible and is managed by Odfjell Drilling. Hkertaker said that there is “a decent market for rigs of this caliber” and that charter rates are edging up for deepwater units but that the company could not be specific on when a new charter for Hercules would be announced. Hercules began drilling offshore Canada for Equinor in mid-July 2024. SFL expect the rig to come off charter during the fourth quarter of 2024, depending on the drilling efficiency and Equinor’s scope of work for the project. Prior to moving to Canada, the rig was drilling for Galp Energia offshore Namibia.

Shelf Drilling is continuing to discuss potential opportunities for its idle 300-ft jackup Trident 16 in Egypt, but due to economic challenges in the country, believes the rig could remain idle for an extended period of time and is now exploring opportunities for the rig outside Egypt. Trident 16 completed a contract with Petrobel offshore Egypt in February 2024 and has been available and marketed for opportunities since then. The Modec 300-C38 unit was originally delivered in 1982 and has worked for Petrobel and other Egyptian companies over much of the past decade.

Mobilisation/Rig Moves

Foresea 10,000-ft drillship Norbe VIII will be entering a Brazilian yard for its 15-year special periodic survey and contract preparations for a new contract to begin early in the fourth quarter of 2024.The 6th generation drillship had been working for the Petrobras-operated Libra Consortium offshore Brazil since August 2021. With that contract finishing in August 2024, Norbe VIII will undergo its SPS and prepare for a three-year contract with Petrobras offshore Brazil. This contract was fixed in September 2023 and is currently expected to begin in October 2024.

ADES 375-ft jackup Admarine 510 is being moved from Saudi Arabia to a yard in Bahrain, where it will undergo maintenance. Admarine 510 was previously working for Saudi Aramco offshore Saudi Arabia but moved to anchorage off Ras Tanura in late July 2024.

Energy Drilling tender-assist rig EDrill Vencedor has departed Crystal Offshore’s facility in Singapore where it underwent upgrades and reactivation works. The rig, which had arrived in Singapore in late 2023, is now en route to Thailand where it will start its three-year contract with PTTEP. It will be deployed on PTTEP’s producing Arthit field in the Gulf of Thailand. EDrill Vencedor was purchased by Energy Drilling in June 2023 from Seadrill, alongside two other units.

Stena Drilling 10,000-ft drillship Stena Forth has departed from Las Palmas in the Canary Islands and is en route to Morocco to start drilling for Energean. While in Las Palmas, the rig underwent regulatory surveys, contract preparations, and recently completed sea trials. The 2009-built rig left Las Palmas on Thursday and is expected to arrive at the Anchois well location off Morocco on Sunday, 18 August. Energean will utilise the rig to drill the Anchois East appraisal/development well in the Lixus licence, with an additional one-well option available. The objective of the appraisal well is to conduct a drill stem test on the main gas-containing sands and target an additional 11 Bcm of gross unrisked prospective resources. Energean in April became the operator of the Lixus licence after completing its farm-in into Chariot Limited’s licences offshore Morocco.

Rig Deliveries

Borr Drilling took delivery of newbuild 400-ft jackup Vali from a Seatrium shipyard in Singapore this week and is in the final stages of assigning the rig to a previously announced contract. Vali is a KFELS Super B Class rig, designed to operate in water depths of up to 400 feet and capable of drilling to depths of up to 35,000 feet. This rig is the fourth in a series of five that Seatrium has constructed for Borr Drilling. The first three rigs were novated by Borr Drilling to ADNOC Drilling and have already been delivered. The new contract for Vali is with an undisclosed operator in Africa and is scheduled to begin around the fourth quarter of 2024 to first quarter of 2025 and run until the first or second quarter of 2026. The contract follows an LOA for 480 days of work announced in Q2 2024. While Borr has not revealed the rig’s destination, market sources have indicated that the contract is for work in North Africa. Borr raised $150 million of additional principal amount of debt under its 2028 senior secured notes in order to finance the delivery of the KFELS Super B Class Bigfoot rig. The company’s final newbuild, the 400-ft jackup Var, is scheduled to be delivered in late 2024 and be available for work as of January 2025. Borr Drilling stated that they are optimistic about securing a contract for the rig by the time of delivery.

Other News

Sunda Energy has signed an exclusivity agreement with the Singapore investment firm Pacific LNG Operations Pte Ltd to potentially fund the Chuditch-2 appraisal well in Timor Leste. Sunda said the exclusivity agreement enabled a period of mutual due diligence relating to a potential investment into the Chuditch PSC project that would fund the planned Chuditch field appraisal well. It is anticipated that such investment, should it occur, would be through an equity issuance in a Sunda subsidiary company and not at the Sunda Energy plc level, the company, previously known as Baron Oil, said. Also, discussions to secure the use of an identified drilling rig for the Chuditch-2 are ongoing and while taking longer than previously indicated, discussions are progressing well, Sunda Energy said. The well site is located 5.1 km (3.1 mi) from the original Chuditch-1 discovery well, in a water depth of 68 m (223 ft), and 286 m east-northeast of the initial location. A jackup rig is planned to be used to drill the well. “As a result of the detailed planning, and in particular the current scheduling of the targeted drilling rig, the company still expects, subject to financing being in place, to drill the Chuditch-2 appraisal well in early 2025,” Sunda Energy said.

Global Petroleum has entered into early commercial discussions with a potential operating partner for a farm-in agreement for its licence PEL 94 offshore Namibia. Global Petroleum said that the talks come following recent activity in the Walvis Basin, offshore Namibia, where the company has seen increased interest in the data room for PEL 94 from various parties. The licence covers 5,798 square kilometres in water depths ranging from 450 metres (1476 ft) to 1550 metres (5085 ft). “Global believes a farm-in, if successfully concluded, could be transformational for the business, with a strategic partner potentially enabling the exploitation of the estimated 2,747 million barrels of oil on the licence (Unrisked Net Best Estimate (P50) Prospective Resources,” the company said. Global Petroleum said it was renewing the annual licence rental for the period of 2024/2025 as it enters the second year of the First Renewal Period in September 2024. Interest in Namibia’s deepwater areas has increased following discoveries announced by TotalEnergies (Venus well) and Shell (Graff well) announced in early 2022. More recently, Portugal’s Galp made a large discovery at its Mopane prospect earlier in 2024, and is planning to drill four new exploration and appraisal wells offshore Namibia in the fourth quarter of 2024 Apart from Global Petroleum, Pancontinental is also working on a farm-out agreement. Pancontinental is the operator of PEL 87 with a 75% interest, while Custos Investments holds 15% and NAMCOR holds 10%. Australian oil firm Woodside has shown interest in the block and it now is working on the interpretation and analysis of seismic data for licence PEL 87 before potentially acquiring a 56% interest in PEL 87. Further, Chevron is understood to be planning drilling on its PEL 90 licence in 2024, and the company also earlier in 2024 agreed to acquire an 80% interest and operatorship in PEL 82.

A subsidiary of Impact Oil & Gas Limited has entered into an agreement with Silver Wave Energy Pte Ltd to acquire its entire 10% interest (10%) in Area 2 offshore South Africa. The closing of the transaction will leave Impact with a 100% interest in Area 2.Area 2 is off the east coast of South Africa with water depths of up to 14,700 ft and prospective areas within 11,500 ft of water. Impact acquired its current 90% participating interest and operatorship in Area 2 from Silver Wave Energy in 2020. Impact believes the block shares the same petroleum play as Namibia’s Orange Basin. Impact also holds a 45% participating interest in the adjacent Transkei and Algoa blocks, which are operated by Shell subsidiary BG International Limited.

Vantage Drilling International Ltd. reported a net loss attributable to shareholders of around $14.2 million for the second quarter of 2024, down from a net income of $1.5 million reported for the second quarter of 2023. The company’s revenue for the quarter was around $49.8 million while EBITDA was $4.6 million. The company had $50.8 million in cash as of 30 June 2024. Vantage Drilling currently owns four rigs, two of which were in the yard for much of the second quarter. The 375-ft jackup Topaz Driller is currently undergoing upgrades at a yard in Singapore in preparation for a long-term contract with CPOC offshore Malaysia to begin later this year. The 12,000-ft Platinum Explorer is at a yard in Malaysia following the end of a contract with ONGC in the first quarter of 2024. Vantage CEO Ihab Toma stated, “The company continued to perform well operationally and financially during the quarter, even with the Topaz Driller and Platinum Explorer undergoing major upgrades. The Topaz Driller continues to prepare for its upcoming contract while the Platinum Explorer enhances its marketability. EBITDA generation of $4.6 million during the quarter reflects the efficiency of our operations and the dedication of our employees during this transitional period.”

Africa Energy remains confident that significant gas discoveries in Block 11B/12B off South Africa can be developed, despite the recent decision of its partners to withdraw from the block. At the end of June 2024, CNR provided notice to the joint venture partners of its intention to withdraw from its 20% interest in Block 11B/12B, in accordance with the joint operating agreement. In late July 2024, TotalEnergies notified the partners of its resignation as operator of Block 11B/12B, and its withdrawal from its 45% interest. QatarEnergy decided to withdraw from its 25% stake in the block too. TotalEnergies entered Block 11B/12B on the Outeniqua Basin off the southern coast of South Africa in 2013, and subsequently made two gas discoveries; Brulpadda in 2019 and Luiperd in 2020, both using the Deepsea Stavanger semisubmersible drilling rig. However, TotalEnergies now believes that these discoveries are too challenging to economically develop and monetise, and has decided to withdraw from the project. Africa Energy, through its investment in Main Street 1549 Pty. Ltd. (“Main Street 1549”), which currently holds 10% interest in Block 11B/12B, does not intend to withdraw from the block. Subject to all relevant regulatory approvals, Main Street 1549 expects to hold 100% interest in Block 11B/12B. “Despite the challenges and delays encountered so far, the company remains confident that the Block 11B/12B resources can be commercially developed. The Brulpadda and Luiperd discoveries are the largest discoveries of natural gas resources in South Africa and if developed could supply a significant portion of the country’s energy needs as it seeks to transition away from coal fired power plants. The company will be focused on obtaining the Block 11B/12B Production Right approval and securing offtake customers,” Africa Energy stated Wednesday. The joint venture partnership filed an application for a Production Right on 7 September, 2022. As part of this process, the Block 11B/12B joint venture prepared a draft Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (“ESIA”). At the request of the operator, TotalEnergies, the final ESIA deadline has been extended and is due 30 August 2024. Africa Energy added that in light of the withdrawal of the joint venture partners, it is currently assessing the best way forward on the ESIA. The approval of the Production Right application will not occur until after the Block 11B/12B joint venture receives environmental authorization in respect to the ESIA.

Jackup drilling contractor Borr Drilling has reported net income of $31.7 million for the second quarter of 2024, a 120% increase over the $17.3 million reported in first quarter 2024. The company’s total operating revenues for the second quarter were $271.9 million, an increase of $37.9 million from the first quarter of 2024. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $136.4 million. Borr CEO Patrick Schorn commented that second quarter operational performance had been strong and the company is well positioned to meets its 2024 adjusted EBITDA guidance of $500 million to $550 million. Schorn stated that the company had continued to secure new contracts at accretive dayrates and that all of the company’s 22 delivered rigs are again contracted with only a few days of availability left in 2024 and 73% of its capacity contracted for 2025. Borr expects a continued tight market for premium jackups as the market continues to gradually absorb excess supply caused by Saudi Aramco’s recent contract suspensions.

Shelf Drilling is currently pursuing an insurance claim over 300-ft jackup Trident VIII, which remains out of service after suffering extensive structural leg damage. The rig was damaged in April 2024 while working for Chevron offshore Nigeria and is now out of service in Luba, Equatorial Guinea.

Shelf Drilling reported a net loss of $14.6 million for the second quarter of 2024 while its adjusted revenues for the quarter were $230.8 million and adjusted EBITDA was $71.5 million. The company attributed its decline in revenues from $251.5 million in the first quarter to lower effective utilization across the fleet, caused by the suspension of four jackups in Saudi Arabia in the second quarter of the year. Effective utilization decreased to 80% in Q2 2024 from 86% in Q1 2024. As of 30 June 2024, Shelf Drilling’s contracted backlog was $2.1 billion with 33 of 36 rigs under contract representing a marketed utilization of 92%.

Shelf Drilling (North Sea) has submitted a new Acknowledgement of Compliance (AoC) application to the Norwegian regulatory authority Havtil for jackup Shelf Drilling Barsk and anticipates the rig’s contract with Equinor to commence in fourth quarter 2024. In June 2024, Havtil did not accept the AoC application for the jackup after non-conformities were identified in the application and compliance measurements. The upcoming contract for Shelf Drilling Barsk with Equinor offshore Norway is now expected to run from November 2024 to May 2026. Shelf Drilling CEO David Mullen stated “We were disappointed with the delayed regulatory approval for the Shelf Drilling Barsk in Norway, however, we are confident that we will complete this process and commence the rig’s contract in the fourth quarter of 2024.”

Image credit: Borr Drilling