Valaris finds more work for its rigs

Following new bareboat charter agreements for several of its rigs with ARO Drilling, offshore drilling contractor Valaris has now also been awarded several new contracts for its rigs for operations in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, Australia, and the UK North Sea.

As informed by Valaris on Tuesday, the first one is a one-well contract with Kosmos Energy in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico for semi-submersible Valaris DPS-5. It is expected to start in February 2022 with an estimated duration of 105 days. The rig’s latest contract was with Eni in Mexico, according to Valaris’ fleet status report from October 2021.

Furthermore, a one-well contract with Western Gas offshore Australia has been awarded to the semi-submersible Valaris MS-1. The contract is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2022 with an estimated duration of 25 days.

As previously reported, Western Gas executed the formal contract with Valaris for the MS-1 to drill the Sasanof-1 exploration well off Australia. The company has recently secured an acceptance of its environmental plan to manage drilling activities for the Sasanof-1 well.

In addition, Centrica Storage has awarded a six-well plug and abandonment contract in the UK North Sea to Valaris Norway, a heavy-duty ultra-harsh environment jack-up rig. The contract is expected to start in the third quarter of 2022 with an estimated duration of 100 days. The rig is currently under contract with Harbour Energy, expiring in January 2022.

Finally, a one-well contract with an undisclosed operator in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico has been awarded to Valaris 144, a standard-duty modern jack-up. The contract is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2022 with a minimum duration of 68 days. The rig has been working for an unnamed operator in the Gulf of Mexico since December 2021 and is scheduled to complete the contract this month.

The update comes on the heels of new long-term deals for Valaris with ARO Drilling, which will see several of its rigs begin three-year extensions to their bareboat charter agreements upon completion of their existing agreements with ARO Drilling in December 2021. ARO Drilling is a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Valaris.