Drilling & Completion News

Transocean, Jurong Shipyard agree to delay delivery, defer payments of two drillships

In early June, Transocean announced an agreement with Jurong Shipyard (JSPL) to delay delivery of the ultra-deepwater drillships Deepwater Atlas and Deepwater Titan. As part of the agreement, JSPL will accept deferred payment for both rigs.

The Deepwater Atlas and Deepwater Titan are the world’s first eighth-generation ultra-deepwater drillships and the only rigs to feature a 3 million-lb hookload. They will also include the first 20,000-psi well control systems.

Delivery of the Deepwater Atlas is now expected in December 2021. Upon delivery, Transocean will make a $50 million payment to JSPL; the balance of payments, or approximately $370 million, will be payable during a five-year period following delivery. Transocean expects Beacon Offshore Energy to commence drilling on its Shenandoah project in the US Gulf of Mexico, utilizing the Deepwater Atlas, in Q3 2022, following the final investment decision. That decision is expected by 31 July.

Delivery of the Deepwater Titan is now expected in May 2022. Upon delivery, Transocean will pay JSPL 80% of amount owed, or approximately $350 million. The remaining $90 million, will be deferred and payable over a five-year period following delivery. Transocean has agreed with Chevron to start commercial operations of the Deepwater Titan in Q1 2023. Transocean’s contract with Chevron maintains its duration and estimated backlog of $830 million, excluding mobilization and reimbursables. 

Seadrill-Sonangol JV secures contract for Angola work

Sonadrill, a 50-50 joint venture between Seadrill and an affiliate of Sonangol, has secured a 12-well contract with an option for nine wells and 11 additional one-well options in Angola for the Sonangol Quenguela drillship. The total contract value for the firm portion of the contract is approximately $131 million, with work expected to last from Q1 2022 to Q3 2023. 

Sonangol Quenguela is the second of two Sonangol-owned drillships to be bareboat chartered into Sonadrill. The drillship is a seventh-generation, DP3, dual-activity, e-smart ultra-deepwater drillship delivered in 2019. It is capable of drilling up to 40,000-ft wells.

A further two Seadrill-owned units are expected to be bareboat chartered into Sonadrill. Seadrill will manage and operate the four units on behalf of Sonadrill.

BP Announces startup of Manuel in US Gulf of Mexico

The BP-operated Manuel project has successfully started up in the US Gulf of Mexico. It is the fourth of five major projects expected to be delivered globally by the company in 2021. Manuel includes a new subsea production system for two new wells tied into the Na Kika platform. 

The wells are expected to boost gross platform production by an estimated 20,100 BOE/day. Drilled to a depth of approximately 21,000 ft, the wells are located southeast of the Na Kika platform, approximately 140 miles off the coast of New Orleans. BP and Shell each hold a 50% working interest in the Manuel development.

In separate news, the operator also announced the start of gas production from the Raven field, the third stage of its major West Nile Delta (WND) development off the Mediterranean coast in Egypt. 

The approximately $9 billion WND development includes five gas fields across the North Alexandria and West Mediterranean deepwater offshore concession blocks in the Mediterranean Sea. Raven follows the Taurus/Libra and Giza/Fayoum projects, which started production in 2017 and 2019, respectively. It produces gas to a new onshore processing facility, alongside the existing WND onshore processing plant.

Raven is currently producing approximately 600 million standard cu ft/day of gas. At its peak, the field has the potential to produce 900 million cu ft/day and 30,000 bbl/day of condensate.

In total, the WND development encompasses 25 wells producing gas to the onshore processing plants. BP is the operator and has an 82.75% stake in the development, with Wintershall Dea holding the remaining 17.25% interest.

Talos Energy successfully drills Tornado Attic well

Talos Energy announced that it has successfully discovered pay in line with pre-drill expectations on its Tornado Attic sidetrack well in the US Gulf of Mexico.

The Tornado Attic well was designed to optimize recovery and was drilled approximately 4,500 ft from the Tornado water flood injection well and 1,550 ft away from the closest existing producer well. Drilling operations were conducted from the Seadrill West Neptune drillship and encountered approximately 85 gross (63 net) ft of true vertical thickness pay in the B6 Upper Zone.

Talos said in a statement that it will immediately move to the completion phase on the well. As a result of the existing infrastructure in place and accelerated completion timeline, production is expected by Q3 2021, ahead of initial expectations.

Maersk Drilling announces new contract extensions

Maersk Drilling announced in June it had been awarded a pair of contract extensions, one in the North Sea and one in South America. 

Karoon Energy exercised an option for the Maersk Developer semisubmersible to drill two development wells at the Patola field offshore Brazil. The work is expected to commence in the second half of 2022, in direct continuation of the rig’s previously agreed work scope. The contract extension has a firm duration of 120 days, with a contract value of approximately $27 million. 

Equinor also exercised an option to add well intervention work at the Martin Linge field offshore Norway to the previously agreed work scope for the Maersk Intrepid jackup. The work scope has an estimated duration of 29 days. The firm value of the contract extension is approximately $9.9 million, including integrated services but excluding potential performance bonuses.

The contract extension contains a performance bonus scheme based on rewarding reduced CO2 and NOx emissions.

In other news, Maersk Drilling announced in May it had secured a contract from INEOS Oil & Gas to employ the harsh-environment jackup Maersk Resolve for drilling and hydraulic stimulation at the Breagh Alpha A11 well in block 42/13 of the UK North Sea. 

Odfjell Drilling awarded contract for Deepsea Stavanger

Equinor has awarded a contract to Odfjell Drilling for the sixth-generation semisubmersible Deepsea Stavanger. The contract has a firm period of three wells, with an expected start date of February 2022. Equinor said the contract value is estimated at around $40 million for the fixed part of the contract. The Deepsea Stavanger is the third rig contracted under the master frame agreement that Odfjell entered into with Equinor in May 2018.

In separate news, Odfjell Drilling has entered into a long-term contract with BP that includes a tripartite Alliance Agreement, along with Baker Hughes, to further develop the Clair field in the UK continental shelf.

The firm period goes out to Q1 2025, and there are two two-year options. Under the contract, Odfjell Drilling will continue with the provision of platform drilling and drilling maintenance services on three of BP’s platforms in the UK North Sea – Clair, Clair Ridge and Andrew. In addition, Odfjell Well Services will provide integrated services covering equipment rental, wellbore cleanup and tubular-running services.

Hess announces discovery at Longtail-3 offshore Guyana

Hess announced a discovery offshore Guyana at the Longtail-3 well on the Stabroek Block. Drilling at Longtail-3 encountered 230 ft of net pay, including newly identified, high-quality hydrocarbon-bearing reservoirs below the original Longtail-1 discovery intervals.

The well is located approximately 2 miles south of the Longtail-1 well. It was drilled in more than 6,100 ft of water by Stena Drilling’s Stena DrillMAX drillship. The Longtail-1 discovery on the Stabroek Block was drilled in 2018, encountering approximately 256 ft of high-quality, oil-bearing sandstone reservoir.

Shelf Drilling scores 10-year extension in Arabian Gulf 

Shelf Drilling has secured a 10-year contract extension for the High Island IX jackup with an unnamed operator in direct continuation of its current contract in the Arabian Gulf. The contract dayrate allows for annual rate adjustments based on the previous 12-month average Brent crude oil price. Following this extension, the expected availability of the rig is June 2031.

Shelf was also awarded a three-year contract by ONGC for the Trident XII jackup to operate in the Mumbai High area offshore India. Planned startup of operations is Q4 2021. According to Shelf’s March 2021 fleet status report, the Trident XII has been under contract with ONGC since January 2018.

Valaris awarded contracts with Chevron, TotalEnergies

On 8 June, Valaris announced that it had been awarded a three-year contract with Chevron in the US Gulf of Mexico for the Valaris DS-18 (Relentless) drillship. The contract is expected to commence in Q1 2022 in direct continuation of its current contract. The Valaris DS-18 is currently working for Chevron in the Gulf under a 320-day extension that began in March 2021.

The news came one week after Valaris’ announcement of a one-well contract with TotalEnergies for the Valaris DS-12 drillship. That contract covers work offshore Ivory Coast, beginning in Q1 2022. Financial terms for the contract were not disclosed. DC