Petrobras books Constellation drillship for drilling ops in Brazilian waters

Brazilian drilling contractor Constellation Oil Services has won a new multi-year assignment off the coast of Brazil for one of the drillships in its rig fleet with the state-owned energy giant Petrobras.

Thanks to its new contract with Petrobras, Constellation Oil Services will deploy its Amaralina Star ultra-deepwater (UDW) drillship to carry out operations offshore Brazil, including in remote areas of frontier exploration, such as the Equatorial Margin and Pelotas Basin for which the state-owned giant made room in its ‘2025-2029 Business Plan.’ 

Rodrigo Ribeiro, CEO of Constellation, commented: “We are glad to announce this new contract, which not only fortifies our well-established and successful long-standing partnership with Petrobras, but also reinforces an incredible year for Constellation.

“As Brazil takes center stage in the offshore drilling industry, supporting Petrobras on its frontier exploration projects is a recognition of the incredible services Constellation has been consistently delivering across the fleet.”

The three-year agreement brings approximately $528 million, which includes approximately $39 million mobilization fee and additional integrated services requested by the Brazilian energy player. The Amaralina Star rig is slated to kick off this contract in the first quarter of 2026.

However, Petrobras also has the option to extend the drillship’s work up to an additional 315 days, subject to mutual agreement. The rig is currently working for Petrobras in the Roncador field and will complete its term in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Petrobras has decided to reopen the field to boost natural gas production. Once done with its current assignment, the drillship is scheduled to undergo preparations for the new contract with adequacies, hull cleaning, and class inspections of the vessel.

The Amaralina Star is a sixth-generation ultra-deepwater DP drillship capable of working in water depths of up to 10,000 feet with a drilling depth capacity of up to 40,000 feet.

Constellation Oil Services is among the three companies Brava Energia selected to deliver its first integrated development campaign at two offshore oil fields, with an option to develop a third asset as a tie-back to existing infrastructure offshore Brazil.

Recently, Hanwha Drilling’s Tidal Action, former West Libra, drillship got its maiden contract, which will mark Constellation’s first time operating a third-party-owned unit once it starts.