Equinor has awarded Valaris a multi-year contract for the drillship VALARIS DS-17 to work on the Raia development offshore Brazil.
The estimated value of the deal is about $498 million, including managed pressure drilling, additional services, fees for mobilization and minor rig upgrades. The 672-day drilling program is set to start in the first half of 2026.
The rig will also be on standby for an estimated duration of 180 days between the end of its current program and the beginning of the operating period. During the standby period, the rig may be available for work offshore Brazil and elsewhere, which could lead to incremental revenue.
Valaris President and CEO Anton Dibowitz said, “We are grateful to Equinor for the investments they have made in leading-edge safety and automation technology on VALARIS DS-17. We continue to execute our commercial strategy by securing new contracts at higher day rates and consistently building our backlog…We see strong customer demand for work that is expected to commence in 2025 and 2026.”
Another of the company’s jackup rigs is en route to the location for Shell’s Selene exploration well on license P2437 in the UK southern North Sea.
According to partner Deltic Energy, the rig should be on the location shortly for what will be the first exploratory well spud anywhere on the UK Continental Shelf this year. Drilling operations should last about 90 days.
The well has been designed to gather information on reservoir quality and gas composition needed (in the event of a success) to support a field development plan and FID, without the need for a further appraisal well.
No testing is planned, and the well will be plugged and abandoned upon completion.
Deltic estimates Selene holds P50 prospective resources of 318 Bcf in the Leman sandstone reservoir.
