Valaris picks up bag of new contracts for rig fleet

Offshore drilling contractor Valaris, formerly known as EnscoRowan, has been awarded a new batch of contracts and extensions with Murphy Oil, BP, Premier Oil, Kosmos, Walter Oil & Gas, and an undisclosed operator in Australia.

In its fleet status report published on Friday, Valaris said that the 2014-built drillship Valaris DS-15 (Renaissance) was awarded a contract extension due to the exercise of a one-well priced option with Murphy in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, with an estimated duration of 45 days from late March 2020 to early May 2020.

The initial deal with Murphy was announced in October 2019, in a previous fleet status report.

The company also stated that it won deals for its Valaris DS-12, DS-9, DS-7, 8503, and MS-1 floaters.

The 2014-built Valaris DS-12 was awarded a one-well contract with BP offshore Egypt, with an estimated duration of 120 days from February 2020 to June 2020. According to information from Bassoe Analytics, the rig would work on a $200,000 dayrate.

The SHI-built five-year-old Valaris DS-9 was also awarded a one-well contract with Premier Oil offshore Brazil, expected to begin in July 2020, with an estimated duration of 60 days.

The Valaris DS-7 drillship was awarded a five-well contract with BP offshore Senegal and Mauritania that is expected to start in September 2020, with an estimated duration of approximately 320 days. Bassoe claimed that the rig would work on a $235,000 rate.

The ten-year-old Valaris 8503 semi-submersible contract with Kosmos in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico was extended by approximately 80 days from early April 2020 to late June 2020 to complete the well in-progress.

The nine-year-old Valaris MS-1 Jurong-built semi-submersible was the only rig that did not have a disclosed name of the charterer. It was awarded a one-well contract with an undisclosed operator offshore Australia that is expected to start in July 2020, with an estimated duration of approximately 120 days. Its dayrate, according to Bassoe, is $225,000.

The only jack-up that won a new deal was the Valaris JU-75. It was awarded a one-well contract with Walter Oil & Gas in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, which started in late December 2019, with an estimated duration of 40 days.

The rig was also awarded a one-well contract with the company set to start in February 2020, with an estimated duration of 30 days. Under this contract, the Valaris JU-75 will work on a $60,000 dayrate.

Apart from this, Valaris said in the fleet status report that it sold and retired four rigs and classified another for sale.

Upon completing its previous contracts in October 2019 and January 2020 respectively, Valaris JU-96 and Valaris 6002 were sold and retired from the offshore drilling fleet. Apart from these, Valaris 5006 and Valaris JU-68 were also sold and retired. The one rig classified as for sale was the Valaris JU-70.

Offshore Energy Today Staff

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