Offshore staff
HAMILTON, Bermuda — ARO Drilling, Valaris’ 50:50 joint venture with Saudi Aramco, has secured finance for its first two newbuild jackups, Kingdom 1 and 2.
The company has entered a $359 million term loan with a syndicate of Saudi Arabian banks and will use the proceeds to pay for the remaining shipyard purchase price for the two rigs, and for general corporate purposes.
According to Valaris, Kingdom should be delivered and start its contract with Aramco in the current quarter, with Kingdom 2 set to start work for Aramco in first-quarter 2024.
Both rigs are on eight-year contracts with day rates to be determined based on a pricing mechanism that targets a six-year payback for construction costs on an EBITDA basis.
Additional eight-year terms will then follow, re-priced every three years, based on a market pricing mechanism.
In April 2022, ARO Drilling said it planned to purchase up to 20 new jackups over 10 years, all to be built at International Maritime Industries in Ras Al-Khair.
10.31.2023
