Equinor to contract Valaris drillship for work in Brazil

Equinor has awarded Valaris a 540-day drilling contract for its VALARIS DS-17 drillship for work in Brazil, scheduled to start in 2023. The rig will drill an appraisal well, plug an old exploration well and conduct additional drilling scope.

Drilling services and other additional services such as remotely operated vehicle (ROV), managed pressure drilling (MPD), casing running, slop treatment and cuttings handling are included in the contract. A fuel reduction incentive has also been agreed on.

The Equinor deal was one of several deals Valaris announced as part of its most recent fleet status report. Among them, the company netted a contract extension with TotalEnergies EP Brasil offshore Brazil for drillship VALARIS DS-15. The option is in direct continuation of the current firm program. Valaris also received a two-well contract extension with Woodside offshore Australia for semisubmersible VALARIS DPS-1. This extension has an estimated duration of 38 days and will be in direct continuation of the existing firm program for Woodside’s Enfield plug and abandonment campaign (18 wells in total).

Other transactions include:

• a one-well, contract extension with Woodside offshore Australia for semisubmersible VALARIS DPS-1. The extension has an estimated duration of 60 days and will be executed within Woodside’s Scarborough development campaign sequence;
• a four-year contract with Shell offshore Brunei for the VALARIS 115 jackup. The contract is expected to commence in April 2023 and has a total contract value of approximately $159 million;
• a one-well contract extension with Shell in the UK North Sea for heavy duty harsh-environment jackup VALARIS 122. The one-well contract extension has an estimated duration of 150 days and will be in direct continuation of the existing firm program;
• a four-well contract with an undisclosed operator in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico for standard duty modern jackup VALARIS 144. The contracted work is expected to take place during the third quarter 2022 with an estimated duration of 60 days and an estimated contract value of approximately $5 million;
• a 90-day contract with Cantium in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico for standard duty modern jackup VALARIS 144. The contract is expected to commence in Q4 2022. The operating rate is $80,000 per day; and
• a one-well contract with GB Energy offshore Australia for heavy duty modern jackup VALARIS 107, expected to commence either late in Q4 2022 or early in the Q1 2023 with an estimated duration of 20 days. The operating rate is $118,000 per day.

Valaris also announced it had sold VALARIS 36to another drilling contractor with restricted use provisions for $9 million.