Offshore staff
HAMILTON, Bermuda – Seadrill had three harsh environment rigs operating in the North Sea by mid-year, the company revealed in its latest results statement.
The semisubmersible West Hercules continued work for Equinor while the jackups West Elara and West Linus have both been on long-term contracts with ConocoPhillips. In addition, the semisub West Phoenix was mobilizing for a new contract offshore Norway with Vår Energi.
Three drillships were operating off the Americas, with the West Neptune under contract to Talos Energy in the Gulf of Mexico, and the West Tellus and West Saturn working off Brazil for Petrobras and ExxonMobil, respectively.
In addition, the semisubmersible Sevan Louisiana is contracted to operate for Walter Oil and Gas in the US GoM and the drillship West Gemini should start work off Angola later in the year.
As for Seadrill’s jackups, the AOD I, AOD III, and West Callisto continued operations in the Middle East for Saudi Aramco, with AOD II also resuming work on July 1.
The West Castor, West Telesto, and West Tucana were on bareboat charter to Seadrill’s joint venture in Qatar, GulfDrill.
The company has sold the jackup West Vigilant and terminated the lease for the semisub West Taurus (both long-term cold stacked rigs) and more recently completed the sale of the jackup West Freedom and entered agreements to recycle five other long-term cold-stacked units.
Equinor has awarded the Aquadrill drillship West Vela a new contract in the US GoM, with Seadrill set to continue managing the rig until mid-2022.
Confidence is picking up among oil company clients in terms of budgeting capital, triggering an upturn in future rig demand, especially for benign environment floaters.
During the first half of 2021 opportunities increased for floaters, especially drillships, with take-up in the traditional ‘golden triangle’ across the Atlantic Ocean breaching 80%.
However, demand for harsh environment floaters fell, in part due to rigs rolling off contract.
Seadrill expects the harsh environment jackup segment to be stable going forward due mainly to award of longer-term contracts and a lower number of contractors operating in the segment.
08/20/2021
