Esgian has released its Week 5 Rig Analytics Market Roundup saying it was the week of rig moves, as several units completed their respective campaigns and moved on to ports either to wait for new assignments or to prepare for upcoming jobs. Meanwhile, Saudi Aramco, the largest operator in the jackup market, is reversing its plans for a production increase, raising questions about the impact on rig demand in the region.
Report Outline
Contracts
New work has been awarded to Seadrill-owned drillships West Vela in the US GOM and West Capella in Indonesia.
Due to changes in bp’s drilling sequence, the company will release the 12,000-ft drillship West Auriga in February 2024, ahead of the previously expected end date in May 2024. West Auriga is owned by Seadrill and is currently managed by Diamond Offshore.
Borr Drilling’s 400-ft jackup Prospector 1 has secured an extension with Neptune Energy in the Dutch sector of the North Sea. The rig has been working for Neptune since early 2022.
SeaMex (also known as Fontis Energy) has secured a one-year contract for 400-ft jackup Titania FE with Mexican state oil company PEMEX, starting in mid-February 2024 and contributing around $55 million in backlog.
Drilling Activity and Discoveries
Woodside is nearing completion of its Sangomar Field Development Phase 1 project offshore Senegal with the project 94% complete at the end of 2023. First oil is targeted for mid-2024.
Petrobras has completed the Pitu Oeste exploration well on BM POT-17 in the Potiguar Basin offshore Brazil, confirming that it had identified the presence of hydrocarbons but that the economic viability was inconclusive.
The Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD) has granted Wellesley Petroleum a drilling permit for the Toppand East well in the North Sea offshore Norway.
The Valaris-owned 10,000-ft semisub, Valaris DPS-1, arrived in January 2024 at Woodside’s Scarborough gas development offshore Western Australia and spudded the first production well of the program.
Demand
Saudi Arabian state oil company Saudi Aramco has received a directive from the country’s Ministry of Energy to maintain its Maximum Sustainable Capacity (MSC) for crude oil production at 12 million barrels per day (MMB/D), and not to continue increasing MSC to 13 MMB/D. This reverses the directive Aramco received in March 2020 to increase its MSC from 12 million MMB/D to 13 MMBD.
Oil India Limited (OIL) has issued a new tender for a jackup rig to work in India in 2025.
Partners involved in the development of the Marigold Project in the UK North Sea plan to submit the final field development plan (FDP) and environmental statement (ES) to authorities for the project by the end of May 2024.
Mobilization/Rig Moves
Ocean Oilfield's 280-ft jackup Aras Driller completed its P&A campaign offshore United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Constellation 3,600-ft semisubmersible Olinda Star has completed its contract with Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) offshore India.
Transocean 12,000-ft drillship Dhirubhai Deepwater KG1 has completed its contract with Reliance offshore India.
Noble’s CJ50 350-ft jackup Noble Resilient has moved from the port of Frederikshavn to the port of Skagen, both in the northern part of Denmark.
Diamond Offshore’s 3,000-ft semisub Ocean Patriot has completed its contract with Repsol in the UK North Sea. The two-well P&A contract at the Tartan field started in early October 2023.
COSL’s 2,460-ft semisub COSLInnovator has completed its campaign with CNOOC in the UK North Sea and is moving to Norway for its special periodic survey (SPS) ahead of a new contract in the UK sector. The semisub had worked for CNOOC since 2022.
The Seadrill-owned 10,000-ft drillship West Polaris has completed its contract with Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) offshore India. West Polaris started its operations with ONGC offshore India in Q4 2022, and by the end of January 2024, the rig completed its drilling campaign.
Other News
Following an application for an extension of the first phase of the FEL 4/19 license in Ireland, which contains the Inishkea West prospect, Europa Oil & Gas has now received consent for the extension of the license.
Karoon Energy has almost completed technical and commercial feasibility studies for the potential Neon development offshore Brazil and intends to make a decision on whether to enter the concept select phase by the end of March 2024, depending on the results of the studies.
Norway’s Ministry of Energy has sent a proposal for the announcement of the licensing round APA 2024 (allocation in pre-defined areas) for public consultation, expanding the area with new blocks in the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea.
TotalEnergies has agreed to acquire OMV's 50% stake in Malaysia-based gas producer and operator SapuraOMV for a consideration of $903 million (including the transfer of a $350 million loan granted by OMV to SapuraOMV). This will mark OMV's exit from the SapuraOMV joint venture, in which the remaining 50% stake is held by SapuraEnergy.
The UK’s North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) has offered 24 new offshore licenses in the second tranche of the country’s 33rd oil and gas licensing round.
Eni S.p.A has closed its acquisition of Neptune Energy Group Limited, first announced in June 2023. The transaction comprises Neptune’s entire portfolio other than its operations in Norway, which were purchased by Vår Energi, and Germany, which was carved out of the transaction.
Longboat Energy has completed a farm-down of two exploration licenses on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) to Concedo.
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