Saipem rigs get new drilling jobs worth $800 million

Italian oilfield services provider Saipem has secured multiple new drilling deals in the Middle East and West Africa, which are worth approximately $800 million.

While announcing the new offshore drilling contracts on Tuesday, Saipem explained that three were for work in the Middle East and two in West Africa. The company further elaborated that the total value of approximately $800 million for these contracts, was “considered net of the leasing costs of the vessels used for the works.”

Furthermore, the oilfield services provider outlines that two contracts have been awarded in the Middle East for two high-specification jack-up drilling rigs – Perro Negro 12 and Perro Negro 13 – chartered by third parties for drilling and workover activities on the specific projects.

The duration of these deals will be five years plus two optional years for the first rig and three years plus one optional year for the second one. The two projects for which these rigs were hired are scheduled to start between the third and the fourth quarter of 2023.

Saipem also adds that the third contract in the Middle East encompasses a five-year extension for an existing contract for the Sea Lion 7 high-specification jack-up rig, a highly versatile self-elevating drilling unit able to operate in water depths of up to 375 feet.

On the other hand, the two contracts in West Africa are in the ultra-deepwater segment for drilling operations with the Saipem 12000 sixth-generation drillship. The first of these assignments has been awarded by Eni Cote d’Ivoire for drilling operations offshore Ivory Coast.

The drillship is expected to start this job in the fourth quarter of 2022, which extends the current activities of the rig in the area for about six months and follows contracts assigned by the Eni Cote d’Ivoire-Petroci consortium in late September 2022 for the development of the relative oil and gas field off Ivory Coast.

Regarding the second contract in West Africa, this has been awarded by Azule Energy for drilling, completion and testing of development and exploration wells offshore Angola in Block 15/06 operated by Eni Angola.

Saipem highlights that this assignment will have the duration necessary to drill and complete 12 firm wells – estimated to take 26 months – and include the possibility of an extension for an optional term. The project is slated to start in 2023 in continuity with the previous works of the rig in this region.

Saipem sees these long-term awards in the Middle East as a confirmation of its strategy towards this “key area” for its business while the awards in West Africa “secure the continuity of operations” in line with the Italian player’s strategy for the ultra-deepwater market in this area. 

Since the beginning of 2022, Saipem has been awarded new contracts in the offshore drilling segment for a total amount of about €1,6 billion euros or about $1.66 billion, after taking into account these new awards.

In line with this, the Italian giant posted for 3Q 2022 the highest quarterly revenue since the fourth quarter of 2015.

This was driven by sizeable awards for its offshore business segment backed by an oil and gas “supercycle” and backlog execution in line with the firm’s business plan targets.