Petrobras hires another drillship for work at two oil fields offshore Brazil

Ventura Offshore Midco, a subsidiary of the Brazilian deepwater offshore drilling contractor Ventura Offshore, has secured a long-term drillship contract with Petrobras, a compatriot state-owned energy giant, for operations at two oil field developments off the coast of Brazil.

Just like Seadrill, which won a drilling deal for 1,095 days plus extension options after a competitive tender, Ventura Offshore Midco confirmed the award of a new contract with Petrobras for the deployment of its DS Carolina ultra-deepwater (UDW) drillship at the Sepia and Atapu fields in the Santos basin, offshore Brazil.

Guilherme Coelho, CEO of Ventura Offshore, commented: “We are delighted to announce this new long-term contract of the DS Carolina for the Sepia and Atapu fields. We look forward to delivering safe and efficient operations to our longstanding customer and partner Petrobras, and to maintaining our industry-leading standards.”

With a value of approximately $363 million, the 910-day firm contract term includes $26 million for mobilization payments. This deal comes with an extension option for an additional 305 days, adding $113 million to the contract value if exercised. The DS Carolina is a sixth-generation ultra-deepwater DP drillship.

This rig is capable of working in water depths of up to 10,000 feet and has a drilling depth capacity of up to 40,000 feet. The DS Carolina drillship is expected to operate under this contract for around 2.5 years during its firm term, or 3.5 years, assuming the extension option gets exercised. The rig will embark on this job after the end of the current contract.

The drillship, which is currently working for Petrobras, is expected to continue to do so until the second quarter of 2026, when it will undergo essential contract preparation works and class inspections before beginning operations under the new contract.

While the Atapu field is operated by Petrobras (65.7%) in partnership with Shell (16.7%), TotalEnergies (15%), Petrogal Brasil (1.7%), and Pré-Sal Petróleo (PPSA) (0.9%), the Sépia field is 55.3%-owned by Petrobras, with partners TotalEnergies (16.9%), Petronas (12.7%), QatarEnergy (12.7%), and Petrogal Brasil (2.4%).

During the next five years, Brazil’s state-owned player has earmarked the biggest slice of its $111 billion investment pie for oil and natural gas, while the total spending in the energy transition arena is expected to reach $16.3 billion.

The drilling contracts with Seadrill and Ventura Offshore follow the deal Petrobras struck with Constellation Oil Services for another ultra-deepwater drillship, which will also carry out operations offshore Brazil, including in remote areas of frontier exploration, such as the Equatorial Margin and Pelotas Basin.