This week Transocean released its quarterly fleet status report, while Borr Drilling sold its fourth jackup this year. Meanwhile, market sources indicate that Petrobras has selected seven rigs from its multi-rig tender.
In case you missed it, you can access our previous Rig Market Round-Up here.
Contracts
Harbour Energy has exercised two 100-day options for Transocean 1,969-ft semisubmersible Paul B Loyd Jr in UK waters at a dayrate of USD175,000. Paul B Loyd Jr is now contracted to Harbour Energy from December 2022 to September 2023 at a dayrate of USD175,000. The first exercised option from December 2022 to March 2023 is being assigned by Harbour Energy to NEO Energy. The rig will then be with Harbour Energy from March 2023 to September 2023 with a further option from September 2023 to June 2024 available to the operator.
Equinor has released 1,640-ft semisubmersible Transocean Equinox after the rig concluded operations offshore Norway. The rig is now idle in Norway. Transocean previously expected Transocean Equinox to remain with Equinor into December 2022. The drilling contractor expects to receive a termination payment equal to the capital element of the dayrate, around USD242,00 through 7 December 2022 and around USD232,000 after this, multiplied by the number of days remaining on the firm term at the date of termination in early October 2022
Transocean semisub Development Driller III has won a one-well charter with two one-well options for work off Suriname with TotalEnergies at a dayrate of $345,000, excluding additional services. The first option is priced at $360,000, while the second option is priced at $370,000. The firm portion of the contract is expected to begin in January 2023 and run until March 2023. Development Driller III last worked for Petrobras off Colombia before being released in mid-August. It is now stacked off Aruba.
Shelf Drilling has secured a five-year contract for the Baker Marine Pacific Class 375 jackup Shelf Drilling Victory for operations in the Arabian Gulf. The contract start date is late March 2023 and also includes a two-year optional period. The total contract value for the firm period, including mobilisation fee, is approximately USD 236 million. The jackup is currently located in the United Arab Emirates where it is undergoing reactivation and upgrades following an extended cold stacked period prior to being acquired by Shelf Drilling.
Odfjell Drilling has reached an agreement with Neptune Energy Norge to use 3,900-ft semisubmersible Deepsea Yantai to drill two firm wells offshore Norway. This is expected to take 60 days and begin in the third quarter of 2023. Deepsea Yantai is owned by CIMC Offshore AS, a subsidiary of China International Marine Containers. Odfjell Drilling has managed the harsh environment rig since 2019. The rig recently secured work with Shell and OMV.
Market sources indicate Petrobras has selected seven rigs from its tender for up to eight floating rigs.
From Lot 1, which was for up to two high-spec DP rigs capable of operating in up to 3,000m of water, the selected units are Diamond Offshore semisub Ocean Courage and Transocean drillship Deepwater Corcovado. Both of these rigs are already off Brazil. From Lot 2, which was for up to five high-spec DP rigs capable of operating in up to 2,400m of water, the selected units are Constellation drillship Brava Star, Ocyan drillships ODN I and ODN II, and Transocean drillship Deepwater Orion. The latter rig is currently stacked off West Africa, while the other units are all in Brazilian waters. From Lot 3, which was for one DP rig capable of operating in up to 2,400m of water, the selected unit is Ocyan semisub Norbe VI. This rig is already in Brazilian waters. It is understood a five-day comment period applies before the awards become final.
Demand
Sacgasco, via its subsidiary Nido Petroleum, is now targeting its drilling programme off the Philippines in early 2023. Site surveys over the Cadlao field in SC6B and the Nandino prospect in SC54 are expected to begin in mid-November 2022. The site surveys provide the option for drilling the wells using either drillship Deep Venture, also known as Valentin Sashin, or an alternative jackup. Deep Venture is currently off Vietnam undergoing preparations ahead of this campaign. Furthermore, Sacgasco notes Nido is also actively seeking a jackup for planned drilling and production.
Well Results
Independent oil & gas company i3 Energy has completed drilling operations at the Serenity appraisal well on license P.2358 on Block 13/12c in the UK North Sea. The targeted oil-bearing sand was not present at this well and other sands were found but were water wet; the well will now be plugged and abandoned.
The company will now plan a development option focused on the eastern area of the Serenity field around the 13/23c-10 discovery well. The well was drilled with Stena Drilling 1,640-ft semisubmersible Stena Don. After it is released by i3 Energy, the rig will go to work for Tailwind Energy and Petrofac on a development drilling campaign at the Gannet E field. The rig also has work lined up with Repsol Sinopec and Shell.
Rig Transactions
Borr Drilling announced its fourth jackup sale this year as the company has entered into an agreement to sell the PPL Pacific Class 400 Gyme to an undisclosed third party. The jackup is currently located in Singapore and has been stacked since its delivery date in 2018. The sale of the rig is done following Borr Drilling’s recent refinancing with PPL Shipyard which was completed early October 2022. The proceeds from the sale will be used to cover outstanding amounts owed on the rig, and any excess amounts will be used to the capitalised interest for the eight other rigs financed by PPL. The transaction is expected to be closed in Q4 2022.
Arabian Drilling Company has taken delivery of the two newbuild jackups ArabDrill 110 (Prev. Clearwater B-Class4) and ArabDrill 120 (Prev. Fecon 3) at Keppel in Singapore. The two KFELS B Class jackups were contracted by Arabian Drilling Company on a bareboat charter earlier this year. The jackups are expected to mobilize to Saudi Arabia where they will commence work with Saudi Aramco in December 2022.
Mobilisation/Reactivation
Drillship Stena DrillMAX has departed Guyana and is heading to Trinidad and Tobago, where it will undergo phase 1 of its SPS. The rig will then return to Guyana and resume operations with ExxonMobil. The rig is firmly committed into mid-2023 with options that could keep it working for another year.
Other News
Sembcorp Marine subsidiary PPL Shipyard has entered into a definitive agreement with Borr Drilling, deferring PPL’s receivables due from Borr Drilling from 2023 to 2025. Negotiations over the payments began in 2021 and relate to nine jackups that Borr Drilling took delivery of between fourth quarter 2017 to first quarter 2019. The balance amount of around USD 0.8 billion was to be paid within five years from the respective delivery dates of the rigs. The balance amount was previously scheduled to mature on 1 May 2023 and a majority of the interest payable was capitalised and also due in in the first quarter of 2023. This has now been shifted to 2025. Sembcorp stated the deferment would result in Borr Drilling making earlier and higher amounts of interest payments and partial principal repayments to PPL Shipyard from 2022 to 2024.
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has awarded a USD 1.53 billion (AED 5.62 billion), two-year contract to ADNOC Drilling, covering the provision of 12 jackups, two island rigs and associated integrated drilling services. ADNOC stated that the award would support the expansion of its crude oil production capacity to five million bpd by 2030 along with natural gas self-sufficiency for the UAE. ADNOC Drilling has been expanding its fleet in recent months. In late September 2022, the drilling contractor acquired two jackups for USD 140 million, scheduled to join the ADNOC Drilling fleet and begin operations by the end of 2022. ADNOC Drilling had previously acquired two rigs in late May 2022, one in June 2022 and one in August 2022.
ADNOC Offshore has awarded ADNOC Drilling a contract to further unlock UAEs offshore energy resources. The contract will support the expansion of ADNOC’s production capacity. The awarded contract is valued at USD 980 million and includes the hire of two jackups, and associated manpower and equipment.
Norway-based drilling contractor Seadrill Limited has received approval to relist its common shares on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol SDRL. Seadrill shares are expected to commence trading on or around 14 October 2022. Seadrill voluntarily delisted from the NYSE in June 2020. The company emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late February 2022 and was listed on Euronext Expand in April 2022.
Shelf Drilling subsidiary Shelf Drilling North Sea has begun trading on Euronext Growth Oslo under the ticker SDNS. Shelf Drilling North Sea is a majority-owned subsidiary of Shelf Drilling. The company was created to focus on operations in the North Sea with its October 2022 acquisition of five harsh environment jackups from Noble Corporation. Shelf Drilling North Sea’s current fleet includes Noble Hans Deul, Noble Houston Colbert, Noble Sam Turner, Noble Sam Hartley and Noble Lloyd Noble. Plans are underway to rename these units to Shelf Drilling Perseverance, Shelf Drilling Odyssey, Shelf Drilling Winner, Shelf Drilling Fortress and Shelf Drilling Barsk.
Keppel O&M and Borr Drilling has entered into an agreement (Amended and Restated Framework Deed) whereas the delivery date of three of the five jackup newbuilds will be accelerated. The new delivery date to Borr Drilling, or a third party whom Borr Drilling intends to sell the rigs to, will be between October 2022 and July 2023. Meanwhile, the delivery of the last two jackups will be deferred to 2025 with Borr Drilling paying the holding costs and cost cover in respect of the deferred deliveries. The seller’s credit arrangements for two of the three jackups will be cancelled and all three jackups will be delivered without any seller’ credit arrangement. The three jackups will be delivered with full payment, including costs and cost cover on delivery, amounting to at least USD 352 million, out of which at least USD 158 million will be payable in 2022. Earlier this year, Borr Drilling announced a letter of intent for the sale of three jackups, Tivar, Huldra and Heidrun, to an undisclosed third party.
The government of India is offering 23 offshore blocks for exploration and development in the country’s ninth OALP bid round. The block round include 15 blocks in ultra-deepwater and 8 blocks in shallow water over an area of 223,000 sq. km. The blocks are located in seven basins: Saurashtra, Mumbai Offshore, Cauvery, Krishna-Godavari, Mahanadi, Bengal-Purnea and Andaman-Nicobar.
