West Neptune extends contract with LLOG

  Valaris Limited announced new contracts awarded subsequent to issuing the Company’s most recent fleet status report on February 21, 2023.   Three-year contract with Petrobras for drillship VALARIS DS-8. The rig will be reactivated for this contract. The total contract value is approximately $500 million, including a $30 million mobilization fee. 100-day contract with a TotalEnergies affiliate for drillship VALARIS DS-12. The contract is expected to commence in second quarter 2023. 70-day contract with Beach Energy offshore New Zealand for heavy duty modern jackup VALARIS 107. The contract is expected to commence in third quarter 2023. The total contract value is approximately $26 million. President and Chief Executive Officer Anton Dibowitz said, “We are particularly pleased to have secured the award for preservation stacked drillship VALARIS DS-8, for a contract that is expected to generate a meaningful return over the firm contract term, and we remain focused on exercising our operational leverage in a disciplined manner. This most recent award represents the sixth contract awarded to one of our high-quality stacked floaters since mid-2021, and speaks volumes about our demonstrated track record of project execution when reactivating rigs.”   Dibowitz added, “Following the reactivation of VALARIS DS-17 and DS-8, we will have ten floaters working across the golden triangle, including four drillships in Brazil, a market where we expect to see continued growth over the next several years.”   Updated Guidance   As a result of the contract awarded to VALARIS DS-8, which will require the rig to be reactivated from preservation stack, we are updating our first quarter 2023 and full-year 2023 guidance provided on our fourth quarter 2022 conference call on February 21, 2023.   First Quarter 2023   Contract drilling expense is expected to increase by approximately $5 million to $385 million to $395 million. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to decrease by approximately $5 million to negative $5 million to breakeven. Adjusted EBITDAR, which adds back one-time reactivation expense, is expected to be $25 million to $30 million, unchanged from the guidance provided on our fourth quarter 2022 conference call. Full-Year 2023   Revenues are anticipated to be $1.8 billion to $1.9 billion, unchanged from the guidance provided on our fourth quarter 2022 conference call. Contract drilling expense is expected to increase by approximately $60 million to $1.49 billion to $1.59 billion. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to decrease by approximately $60 million to $180 million to $220 million. Adjusted EBITDAR, which adds back one-time reactivation expense, is expected to be $280 million to $320 million, unchanged from the guidance provided on our fourth quarter 2022 conference call. Capital expenditures are expected to increase by $60 million to $320 million to $360 million. Source: Valaris Join our mailing list here We are #1 on Google and Bing for the "Largest Mobile Energy Network" Come join our community! Download the Rig Lynx app here  

  Semisub rig owner Dolphin Drilling has inked a new contract with Peak Petroleum in Nigeria for its 1974-built Blackford Dolphin.   The firm contract, which follows the letter of award in January, gives the Euronext Growth-listed owner of three rigs the potential to extend the unit’s backlog by a minimum of 120 days and up to 485 days. The deal adds to and will be a direct continuation of the previously announced 12-month contract with General Hydrocarbon Limited (GHL).   Øystein Stray Spetalen-backed company said the effective dayrate associated with the minimum firm period of the contract is $325,000, including the mobilisation fee.   “The final award of the contract for Blackford Dolphin shows the opportunities in Nigeria at a strong dayrate, in addition to building on the backlog for the rig. It also underlines the attractiveness of our assets, and we look forward to returning to revenue-generating operations in 2023,” noted Bjørnar Iversen, CEO of Dolphin Drilling.   Source: Dolphin   Join our mailing list here We are #1 on Google and Bing for the "Largest Mobile Energy Network" Come join our community! Download the Rig Lynx app here  

  Shell and state-owned QatarEnergy (QE) have made a new oil discovery at a deepwater exploration well around 270km offshore Namibia, the country's third in just over a year.   The "light oil" discovery in the PEL-39 licence in the Orange Basin offshore southern Namibia was announced by QE, which holds a 45pc non-operating interest in the block, and Namibia's state-owned Namcor, which holds a 10pc stake. Shell, which operates the licence with a 45pc share, has yet to make an announcement.   QE said the discovery was made at the Jonker-1X deepwater well, which was drilled in water depths of around 2,200m. Drilling work began at the well in December and concluded several days ago, QE said. Neither QE nor Namcor have issued a reserve estimate, saying further appraisal work is needed still to determine the size and potential of the find.   The news cements Namibia's reputation as a frontier exploration hotspot. It is the third oil discovery in the space of a year. The other two were also in the Orange Basin, which extends from southern Namibia to the east coast of South Africa. The same consortium reported a discovery at the Graff-1 well, also in the PEL-39 licence, in early February 2022. A different consortium — comprising TotalEnergies, QE, UK-based independent Impact Oil and Gas and Namcor, announced a separate light oil discovery at the Venus 1-X well a few weeks later in the PEL-56 licence.   The Jonker find comes less than two weeks after TotalEnergies said it would begin a multi-well drilling campaign to appraise the Venus discovery. TotalEnergies said it plans to spend half of its 2023 exploration budget in Namibia. The company has previously indicated that Venus could hold at least 5bn bl of oil equivalent (boe) of recoverable oil and gas. Consultancy Wood Mackenzie has estimated it could hold as much as 6bn bl of oil, and possibly double that if the appraisal drilling yields positive results.   TotalEnergies holds a 40pc operating interest in the PEL-56 licence, with QE, Impact Oil and Gas and Namcor holding 30pc, 20pc and 10pc stakes, respectively. If successful, the Venus drilling campaign will result in two potentially fully appraised early production centres, Impact Oil and Gas said.   Source: Argus   Join our mailing list here We are #1 on Google and Bing for the "Largest Mobile Energy Network" Come join our community! Download the Rig Lynx app here