Valaris drillship lands 852-day job on natural gas project in Brazilian waters

Bermuda-headquartered offshore drilling contractor Valaris has won a multi-year drilling assignment for one of its drillships in Brazil, which enables the rig to work for Equinor Energy do Brasil, a subsidiary of Norway’s energy giant Equinor.

Thanks to this deal, the Valaris DS-17 drillship will work on Equinor’s Raia project, covering the development of two natural gas fields – Raia Manta and Raia Pintada – in the BM-C-33 concession off the coast of Brazil. The Norwegian player submitted the declarations of commerciality and plans of development for two natural gas fields in the BM-C-33 concession in September 2023 to Agência Nacional de Petróleo, Gás Natural e Biocombustíveis (ANP).

Saipem’s pipelaying vessel, Castorone, will work on bringing this project to life. The start-up of what is expected to be Brazil’s first project to treat gas offshore and be connected to the national grid without further onshore processing is anticipated in 2028. Equinor, as the operator, holds a 35% stake in the project while Repsol Sinopec Brasil and Petrobras hold 35% and 30% interest, respectively. MODEC is in charge of building a floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) unit for the project.

Anton Dibowitz, Valaris’ President and Chief Executive Officer, commented: “This contract award is a testament to the quality of our crews and the collaborative nature of our relationship with Equinor. We are grateful to Equinor for the investments they have made in leading-edge safety and automation technology on Valaris DS-17 and the trust they have placed in us to execute their development programs offshore Brazil. In addition, this contract further underscores our track record of delivering high-performing assets following a reactivation.”

The contract, which has an estimated total duration of 852 days, is expected to bring Valaris approximately $498 million, inclusive of managed pressure drilling (MPD), additional services, and fees for mobilization and minor rig upgrades. The deal entails a 672-day drilling program, expected to begin in the first half of 2026.

The rig owner underlines that the drillship will be on standby for around 180 days between the end of the rig’s current program and the beginning of the operating period. However, the drillship may be available for work inside and outside Brazil during the standby period, which Valaris believes could lead to incremental revenue.

The Valaris DS-17 drillship has worked for Equinor offshore Brazil since September 2023. With the GustoMSC P10000 design, the rig, constructed at Hyundai Heavy Industries, can accommodate 210 people.

Dibowitz highlighted: “We continue to execute our commercial strategy by securing new contracts at higher day rates and consistently building our backlog as evidenced by this multi-year drillship contract. We see strong customer demand for work that is expected to commence in 2025 and 2026 that will continue to support our anticipated earnings and cash flow growth over the next few years.”