Velesto jack-up to drill five firm wells for Petronas

Malaysian rig owner Velesto has secured more work for one of its jack-up drilling rigs for operations in Malaysia with the country’s oil and gas operator, Petronas Carigali.

According to Velesto Energy’s Bursa Malaysia announcement on Friday, Velesto Drilling has received a letter of award from Petronas Carigali for the provision of jack-up drilling rig services.

Velesto Drilling is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Velesto Malaysian Ventures, which in turn is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Velesto Energy.

The contract is for the provision of services of the jack-up rig, NAGA 2, with an estimated contract value of $12.4 million.

The NAGA 2 rig has been assigned for Petronas Carigali’s drilling programme, under which it will drill five firm wells, with the extension option of one plus one well. The expected start date is between 1 December 2021 to 31 December 2021.

Velesto’s NAGA 2 is a premium independent-leg cantilever jack-up rig with a drilling depth capability of 30,000 feet and has a rated operating water depth of 350 feet. This is the rig’s second contract from Petronas in the last six months following a contract award from March 2021.

The contract was for three firm wells, with the expected start date between 15 May 2021 to 15 June 2021. In addition to NAGA 2, the NAGA 5 was also hired under this contract to work on one firm well with an extension option of one plus one well with the start date between 1 April 2021 to 14 April 2021.

Velesto lost one of its assets this year following an incident in which the NAGA 7 rig tilted and submerged, resulting in a total loss of the asset. The rig was working for ConocoPhillips off Malaysia when the incident happened. As previously reported, the contract was considered terminated without notice from the moment the loss occurred.