Angolan offshore drilling firm Sonadrill, the 50:50 joint venture between Seadrill and an affiliate of Sonangol, has secured a twelve-well contract in Angola for the Sonangol Quenguela drillship. The contract includes one option for nine wells and eleven one well options, Seadrill said Friday.
Total contract value for the firm portion of the contract for the 238.4 meters long drillship is expected to be around $131 million (including mobilization revenue and additional services) with the start-up expected in Q1 2022 and running to Q3 2023.
The contract is contingent on National Concessionaire approval. Sonangol Quenguela is the second of two Sonangol-owned drillships to be bareboat chartered into Sonadrill, Seadrill said.
The drillship is a 7th generation, DP3, dual activity, ultra-deepwater drillship delivered in 2019, capable of drilling wells up to 40,000 feet (12192 meters) deep.
Sonadrill is a joint venture created between Sonangol, owner of Sonangol Libongos and Sonangol Quenguela drillships, and drilling firm Seadrill.
A further two Seadrill-owned units are expected to be bareboat chartered into Sonadrill. Seadrill will manage and operate the four units on behalf of Sonadrill, Seadrill said.
Seadrill's Chief Executive Officer, Stuart Jackson said: "Sonadrill is a strategic partnership in an important deepwater basin. The operational excellence and experience of our team has driven this expansion of the joint venture. Securing the contract for the Sonangol Quenguela drillship is a great achievement, and is a testament to the confidence that our partners and clients have in the company and its staff."
Offshore Engineer contacted a firm that handles Seadrill's media correspondence in the hopes of learning who the drillship's charterer was. The company stated that it was unable to share the identity of the customer.