Offshore drilling contractor Constellation has secured a new contract with Shell for its Alpha Star ultra-deepwater drilling rig offshore Brazil.
The contract is for approximately 30 days, having started on August 30, 2024.
The new contract will be executed at the same day rates as the current agreement with 3R Petroleum and will not affect 3R Petroleum (rebranded as Brava Energia as of August 30) contract’s maturity date in December 2024.
The Alpha Star will be used to carry out workovers for replacing up to four Pump Boosting Modules (MOBOs), in water depths of approximately 5,000 ft at the BC-10 field in Campos Basin, which is operated by Shell in partnership with ONGC and Qatar-Energy.
After this campaign with Shell, the rig will resume its contract with Brava Energia, which is due to end in December this year, according to Constellation.
Alpha Star is an ultra-deepwater DP semi-submersible drilling rig that started operations in July 2011. The rig is capable of drilling in water depths of up to 9,000 feet and has a drilling depth capacity of up to 30,000 feet, being equipped to operate at typical pre-salt depths.
“Over the course of this year, as well as having already been used to carry out workovers and decommission wells, the Alpha Star will now carry out the substitution of Pumping Modules for Shell before drilling and completing a well for Brava Energia, who will have the rig until the end of the year,” said Rodrigo Ribeiro, CEO of Constellation.