Rigs roundup: Shelf sells jack-up; Stena DrillMAX back in Guyana
Global Offshore Drilling News: New Contracts, Rig Moves, and Sales in Focus
Stena DrillMAX Returns to Guyana for ExxonMobil
Stena’s 3,048-meter drillship, the Stena DrillMAX, is back in Guyana to start new work for ExxonMobil. This drillship will be used for exploration drilling at the Haimara-3 well. It is expected to continue working there until November 2024. Stena DrillMAX has been working in Guyana’s offshore waters since 2021. In April 2024, it briefly moved to Canada to drill the Persephone C-54 well for ExxonMobil. That well did not produce any oil or gas and was abandoned. ExxonMobil has also extended contracts for other offshore rigs, including Stena Carron and four Noble drillships.
Shelf Drilling Sells Baltic Jack-Up Rig
Shelf Drilling recently sold its 114-meter Baltic jack-up rig for $60 million to T7 Global, a company based in Malaysia. T7 Global plans to use the rig for a plug and abandonment program in Malaysia. The sale was first announced in July, and Shelf Drilling will help manage the rig during its operations. The Baltic, built in 1983, finished a job in Nigeria before being shipped to Malaysia on the Seaway Eagle heavy-lift vessel.
ADNOC Extends Contract for Aryabhatt 1 Jack-Up Rig
The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has extended the contract for the 107-meter jack-up rig Aryabhatt 1. This rig, managed by Foresight Drilling, began work in September 2020. The new extension will keep the rig under contract until September 2025. The rig was originally built in 2013 and is part of the KFELS B Class design.
Petrobras Signs $1 Billion Contracts for Floating Rigs
Brazil’s Petrobras has awarded two big contracts to Constellation Oil Services for work in the Roncador field in the Campos Basin. These contracts, worth $1 billion, will see two drillships, the Laguna Star and the Tidal Action, working for Petrobras. The contracts are set to start in Q3 2025 and will last about 2.5 years. The Laguna Star is currently finishing a job with Petrobras, while the Tidal Action is a brand-new rig set to begin operations after leaving the shipyard in South Korea.
Northern Ocean Secures New Contract for Deepsea Bollsta
Northern Ocean’s Deepsea Bollsta rig has signed a one-well contract in Ghana with Springfield. The rig will be used to test the Afina 1X well, with work starting in Q4 2024. The contract is for 30 to 35 days at a daily rate of $440,000. After the Ghana job, Deepsea Bollsta will head to Namibia for a 63-day contract with an unnamed operator, believed to be a Chevron subsidiary.
Rig Moves Around the Globe
- ARO Drilling’s jack-up rig ARO 2003 has been moved to Zamil Shipyard in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, for maintenance work. The rig is contracted by Saudi Aramco and will remain in operation until Q1 2026.
- Japan Drilling’s Hakuryu-5 rig is leaving Malaysia after finishing its work with Petronas. The semisubmersible rig will head to Singapore for an extended stay at a shipyard. In early 2025, it will start a carbon capture project in Japan.
- COSLInnovator, a 750-meter semisubmersible rig, will soon relocate within the UK from the Gannet field to the Guillemot North West field. It has been drilling under a contract with Petrofac since April 2024. After completing its current job, the rig will prepare for a two-year contract in Norway with Equinor.
- The COSLSeeker rig, a 114-meter jack-up, has arrived in Singapore from Saudi Arabia. It will soon be moved to Thailand, where it is scheduled to start work for PTTEP by early 2025.
