Valeura Energy has taken advantage of the “favourable pricing” in the rig market to secure a drilling unit on a long-term contract for its offshore Thailand operations.
The Singapore-headquartered, Toronto-listed independent has agreed to charter Shelf Drilling’s jack-up rig Shelf Drilling Enterprise for a three-year term that runs until 31 December 2029.
Valeura has an option on the start date and currently plans to commence drilling in the fourth quarter with the initial focus on accelerating production from existing projects.
The company is sitting on 57.8 million barrels of proven plus probable reserves — as of end-2025 — and sees more opportunities and a larger inventory of drilling targets within its core Gulf of Thailand portfolio.
“We see a favourable pricing environment within the rig market, so we are moving decisively to capitalise on the opportunity before us by locking in the Enterprise rig for a term of three years,” said Valeura chief executive Sean Guest.
“We intend to pursue further development appraisal, and exploration drilling across our portfolio with a programme of continual drilling through the end of 2029.”
No financial details of the charter such as the dayrate, and other terms were disclosed.
Shelf Drilling Enterprise is a premium jack-up rig owned by Shelf Drilling, which is suitable for drilling anywhere in the Gulf of Thailand, noted Valeura. The Baker Marine Pacific Class 375 rig, which can drill in water depths of up to 375 feet was built in 2007 and last upgraded six years ago.
The drilling unit was formerly known as Maersk Completer, according to marine intelligence provider VesselsValue.
Shelf Drilling (Southeast Asia) Limited is a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s ADES Holding Company.
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