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28 January 2026
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Noble lands nine rig awards, enters Norwegian floater market
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Noble Corp announced new contract awards for nine rigs offshore Norway worth approximately $1.3 billion of backlog, which will expand the company’s existing presence into the country's harsh-environment floater market. New contract awards include a three-year contract with Aker BP for the harsh-environment semisubmersible Noble GreatWhite, expected to start in Q2 2027. The award represents approximately $473 million of total contract value, including mobilization fee and excluding integrated services and bonus potential. |
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Brandon Pye takes over as Senior VP Sales & Marketing
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Patterson-UTI appointed Brandon Pye as its Vice President of Sales & Marketing. Mr Pye brings more than 17 years of sales and marketing experience in the oil and gas industry, most recently serving as Vice President of Sales and Marketing at MS Directional. |
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Stena Drilling, Keystone partner on automation-enabled well delivery model
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Stena Drilling and Keystone entered into a collaborative memorandum of understanding to jointly develop a next-generation, automation-enabled well delivery model aimed at improving safety, efficiency and transparency across drilling operations. Under the agreement, the companies will combine Keystone’s digital well planning and execution capabilities with Stena Drilling’s offshore operational expertise and well delivery systems. The collaboration is designed to streamline the transition from planning to execution and enable more integrated digital workflows during drilling campaigns. |
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Saipem launches new drilling training center
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Saipem launched its Drilling Training Center, a specialized training hub dedicated to developing technical skills in the drilling sector. In a statement, Saipem said that the center is designed to "offer training programs that integrate theory and practice, using cutting-edge technologies and an immersive approach." At the heart of the center is a full-scale simulation system that reproduces the dimensions and perceptions of a drilling rig on a screen composed of 24 monitors, spanning over 8 m in length and 3 m in height. |
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Seadrill wins contract awards in Malaysia, Norway
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In Malaysia, Seadrill’s ultra-deepwater drillship West Capella has secured a contract with an undisclosed operator. The well-based program is expected to start in Q2 2026 for an estimated duration of 440 days, plus priced options for three additional wells. The total contract value for the firm term is approximately $157 million, including a $5 million mobilization fee and excluding additional services. In Norway, the West Elara jackup secured an accommodation contract with Equinor on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The program is anticipated to start in Q3 2026 and continue into Q4 2027, with a total contract value of $78 million, plus three priced options of three months each. |
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Patterson-UTI rigs set to work in Argentina's Vaca Muerta
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Patterson-UTI signed a multi-year agreement to lease two high-spec APEX 1500 drilling rigs to Archer. The rigs will support Archer’s operations in Argentina’s Vaca Muerta formation as part of its seven-rig contract with YPF that was announced in December 2025. The rigs will be provided from Patterson-UTI’s existing US fleet, and Archer will be responsible for all preparation, upgrade and mobilization costs. The rigs are expected to commence operations by mid-2026. |
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Saipem’s Perro Negro 7 jackup to resume Saudi Arabia operations
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Saipem will restart operations of the Perro Negro 7 jackup in Saudi Arabia beginning this month. The contract, which was awarded to Saipem in 2011 and extended in June 2023 for 10 years, was temporarily suspended for 12 months in 2024. The suspension period will be recovered at the end of the contract, extending its duration until 2034. Perro Negro 7 is designed to operate in waters up to 375 ft deep and drill wells up to 9,100 m. The asset is equipped with advanced systems to ensure safety, efficiency and compliance with environmental standards. |
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Murphy Oil achieves appraisal success offshore Vietnam
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Murphy Oil drilled the Hai Su Vang-2X (HSV-2X) appraisal well in Block 15-2/17 in the Cuu Long Basin, approximately 40 miles offshore Vietnam, confirming reservoir continuity and strengthening the appraisal case for the Hai Su Vang field. The HSV-2X well was spudded in early October 2025 and drilled to appraise the Hai Su Vang discovery made earlier in the year. The appraisal well encountered a total of 429 ft of net oil pay across two reservoirs, including 332 ft of net oil pay in the deeper primary reservoir and 97 ft in the shallower reservoir. This compares with approximately 370 ft of net oil pay encountered in the original discovery well. |
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Halliburton introduces shankless, matrix-body directional bit
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Halliburton launched the HyperSteer MX directional drill bit, a shankless, matrix-body bit that improves durability and maximizes directional control. |
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Borr Drilling secures two new jackup contracts
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Borr Drilling signed new contract commitments for two of its premium jackup rigs. The Ran received a one-well extension with Eni in Mexico. The well has an anticipated duration of 75 days, keeping the rig on firm contract through March 2026. The remaining options under the contract allow for 240 days of extension beyond the end of the new committed term. Additionally, the Odin secured a contract for two wells plus an optional well with an undisclosed operator in the US. The campaign is expected to commence mid-2026, with an estimated duration of 60 days per well. |
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Beacon brings Zephyrus field onstream, completes second well in US Gulf
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Beacon Offshore Energy started oil and natural gas production from the Zephyrus field in the US Gulf, following startup of the initial development well in late December 2025. The Zephyrus development is located in Mississippi Canyon Block 759, approximately 130 mi southeast of New Orleans, in water depths ranging from 3,100 to 3,600 ft. The discovery well, Zephyrus #1, was drilled in 2023 and intersected oil-bearing Middle Miocene Cris “I” M2 sandstone reservoirs. |
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Chevron takes FID on Leviathan gas expansion
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Chevron and the working interest owners of the Leviathan natural gas reservoir reached a final investment decision (FID) to expand the production capacity of the strategic Leviathan production platform. The Leviathan production platform is located approximately 10 km offshore Dor, Israel, and the expansion project is expected to come online toward the end of this decade. |
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Sarah Fenton, Executive VP of Upstream, EQT Corp: Vertical integration improves capital efficiencies through scale, stability, goal alignment 
Carey Ford, President and CEO, Precision Drilling: Drillers keep eye on technologies for tomorrow even as investors focus on getting returns today 
Ryan Dawson, Chief Corvanaut, Corva: Tech adoption becomes easier when incentives align with economic realities of business
Jeff Fisher, VP – Products & Innovation (Pressure Control), HMH: Transparency on risks, vendor flexibility among OEM strategies to drive technology adoption 
Mohamed Farouk, Group CEO & Vice Chairman, ADES Group: Aging jackup fleet, dim potential for newbuilds set scene for supply scarcity in coming years
Transocean’s Roddie Mackenzie aims to keep focus on advocacy, sustainability as IADC Chairman
