Offshore drilling player Valaris has sealed new contracts and extensions, with associated backlog of $181m added since its most recent fleet status report in February.
The New York-listed firm has won two-year contract extensions with BP in the US Gulf of Mexico for managed rigs Mad Dog and Thunder Horse. The contract extensions are effective January 27, 2022.
In Brazil, a one-well contract extension has been secured with TotalEnergies for the drillship Valaris DS-15. The option well is a direct continuation of the current firm program and has an estimated duration of 100 days.
In the Middle East, ARO Drilling awarded a three-year contract with Saudi Aramco for the jackup Valaris 140. This contract relates to the previously disclosed three-year bareboat charter agreement between Valaris and ARO Drilling.
Meanwhile, the previously disclosed contract awarded to Valaris DS-11 for an eight-well contract for a deepwater project in the US Gulf of Mexico has been novated from TotalEnergies to Equinor after the French energy major pulled out of the North Platte deepwater project off Louisiana. No material changes to the contract resulted from the novation, including with respect to the termination provisions in the event the project does not receive a final investment decision.
The driller has also sold and retired the 1976-built jackup Valaris 67 from its drilling fleet.
