Italian energy industry services firm Saipem said Wednesday it had secured new offshore drilling contracts, three in the Middle East and two in West Africa, worth around $800 million in total.
In the Middle East, two new contracts have been awarded for two high-specification jack-up drilling units, the Perro Negro 12 and Perro Negro 13, chartered by third parties for drilling and workover activities on the specific projects.
The duration of the operations will be five years plus two optional years for the first unit and three years plus one optional year for the second offshore drilling rig.
Both projects are scheduled to start between the third and fourth quarters of 2023.
The third contract encompasses the five-year extension of an existing contract for the high-specification Jack-Up unit Sea Lion 7, a self-elevating drilling unit able to operate up to 375 feet (114.3 meters) water depth.
In West Africa, Saipem has been awarded two contracts in the ultra-deepwater segment for drilling operations with the sixth-generation drillship Saipem 12000.
The first contract has been awarded by Eni Cote d'Ivoire for drilling operations offshore Ivory Coast, which are expected to start in the fourth quarter of 2022 and extend the current activities of the rig in the area by about six months.
The second contract has been awarded by Azule Energy for the drilling, completion, and testing of development and exploration wells offshore Angola in Block 15/06 operated by Eni Angola S.p.A.
The contract will have the duration necessary to drill and complete 12 firm wells (estimated to last 26 months) and include the possibility of extension for an optional term. The project is set to begin in 2023, continuing the rig's previous work in West Africa.
"With the contracts announced today, since the beginning of 2022 Saipem has been awarded new contracts in the offshore drilling segment for a total amount of about 1,6 billion EUR equivalent," Saipem said.