Petrobras books third Seadrill drillship for Brazilian field

Offshore drilling contractor Seadrill has secured a contract with Brazil’s oil and gas giant Petrobras for work in the Búzios field offshore Brazil, making it the third rig contract for Seadrill on the field.

The contract was awarded to the West Jupiter drillship and it is for a firm term of 1,040 days with the start expected in December 2022, Seadrill reported on Monday morning. The total contract value is approximately $264 million, inclusive of mobilization revenue and additional services.

Seadrill’s Chief Executive Officer, Stuart Jackson, commented, “Petrobras is a long-standing and valued customer of Seadrill and signing a third contract with them this quarter is testament to our strong partnership and commitment to the Brazilian market. Seadrill is focused on growing our fleet in strategic basins where we see high growth potential, such as Brazil, where we are now the largest international drilling contractor.”

The West Jupiter is a 6th-generation ultra-deepwater drillship built in 2014 by Samsung Heavy Industries. According to the latest AIS data, the drillship is currently in Tenerife. Seadrill’s latest fleet status report shows that the drillship’s previous location was Sri Lanka.

Less than a month ago, Seadrill was awarded two other contracts with Petrobras, which will see its West Carina and West Tellus rigs also work on the Búzios field.

The total contract value for these two rigs was about $549 million, including mobilisation revenue and additional services. Both contracts are on a three-year fixed-term basis and the two rigs are expected to start working for Petrobras in September 2022.