Rig return expands Petrobras’ contracted fleet for oil & gas search

A semi-submersible rig, owned by Constellation Oil Services, a Brazilian drilling contractor, has kicked off its multi-year drilling assignment off the coast of Brazil with Petrobras, the South American country’s state-owned energy giant.

Constellation has confirmed the return of the Alpha Star rig to the fleet contracted by Petrobras after two and a half years, as the unit started a new three-year contract with the Brazilian oil and gas heavyweight in February 2025.  

The rig owner elaborated: “To make this operation viable, we carried out the largest maintenance stop in Constellation’s history. This is the first of the docking scheduled by the careful planning called Owner’s Vision 2025: Rig Scheduled Shutdown Strategies.

“The program, implemented to structure the maintenance operations planned for 2025 and 2026, seeks to accelerate processes and optimize costs, always with the objective of reinforcing the safety and reliability of our units, in a sustainable way.”

According to Constellation, the receipt of the Alpha Star rig by Petrobras was carried out in 26 days, which is said to represent 27 days less than the average time for receiving probes carried out by the operator in 2024.

Alpha Star, which began its operations with Constellation in 2011, is a semi-submersible drilling rig, with dynamic positioning, and capable of drilling in water depths of up to 9,000 feet (approximately 2.743 meters).

With a drilling capacity of up to 30.000 feet (approximately 9.144 meters), the rig is equipped to operate in water depths typical to the Brazilian pre-salt. The semi-sub joined Petrobras several months after Constellation inked a five-year deal with HMH to improve the operational efficiency of three semi-submersible drilling rigs, including Alpha Star.

The rig owner signed five new contracts over the last six months and has a contract backlog of $2.1 billion, representing 20 total backlog years. Constellation is perceived to rank among the top in contract coverage for 2025 and 2026, and the highest in 2027. The rig owner’s core market is Brazil, but it has the option to bid and operate in other high-demand regions.

Within the Brazilian hydrocarbon exploration segment, a total of 51 wells are on the agenda to be drilled over the next five years, with the Amaralina Star selected as one of the units to execute this plan, which shows that 15 of these wells are planned for the Equatorial Margin, showcasing a strategic focus on this region.

Based on the development plan for the pre-salt region, the Búzios, Tupi/Iracema, and Mero fields are key drivers of pre-salt activity, accounting for 80% of current production. Constellation underlines that the planned activities include incremental FPSOs and revitalization efforts to sustain and enhance production capacity.

The company claims that the Campos Basin will also see significant revitalization efforts, representing 30% of future exploration and production investments, with approximately 200 new wells expected to be connected over the next five years.

The firm highlights that future projects focus on revitalization, productive life extension projects (EVPRo), and improving recovery factors to maximize production efficiency. However, the demand for decommissioning is also anticipated to be high, with over 420 wells planned for abandonment over the next five years, as part of responsible resource management initiatives.

Recently, Constellation Oil Services disclosed its intention to list its shares on Euronext Growth Oslo. With 1,800 employees and a 45-year track record, the Brazilian firm is currently in the first quartile of Petrobras’ ranking of drilling contractors.

Rodrigo Ribeiro, CEO of Constellation, underlined: “We are excited to list Constellation on Euronext Growth, enhancing share liquidity for our investors. With a strong contract backlog and a cost efficiency advantage, we anticipate robust cash generation to support debt reduction while preserving financial flexibility.

“The Company remains committed to a capital allocation and financial policy framework that prioritizes debt repayment, maximizes dividend potential, and leaves room to pursue accretive growth initiatives.”

Constellation is perceived to be well positioned to benefit from Brazil’s ultra-deepwater drilling activity, driven by the vast potential oil and gas reserves in the pre-salt layer offshore Brazil, as it owns and operates a fleet of seven offshore rigs, including six modern ultra-deepwater dynamically positioned rigs.

The firm’s fleet will be enlarged in the third quarter of 2025, as it will manage and operate the Tidal Action rig from Hanwha.

“We have seen strong investor interest in Constellation shares on the OTC market. Euronext Growth Oslo offers a robust platform with investors who understand the offshore drilling sector. We look forward to introducing Constellation to a broader equity investor base,” concluded Ribeiro.