Deep Value Driller will drill Redha well under $58 million contract
Petronas has secured Eldorado Drilling’s seventh-generation ultra-deepwater drillship Deep Value Driller to drill its Redha-1 wildcat on the Bobara production sharing contract offshore Indonesia.
Upstream reported in March that Petronas was in the market for a unit to drill Redha, its first probe on the ultra-deepwater asset it was awarded two years ago. The well is also the Malaysian energy giant’s first operated deepwater well it will drill offshore Indonesia.
Water depths on the Bobara block, where estimated potential reserves at pegged at 6.8 billion barrels of oil equivalent, exceed 3000 metres.
Petronas in May 2024 signed a 30-year PSC for the Bobara Working Area (WK) in the Arafura Sea off the coast of Indonesia’s West Papua province.
Subsequently French supermajor TotalEnergies and Indonesia’s national energy company Pertamina farmed in via separate deals, and today each holds a 24.5% interest with Petronas retaining the majority 51% stake. Located offshore Papua Barat in eastern Indonesia, the block represents a key frontier in ultra-deepwater growth opportunity, Petronas said at the time of the October 2025 farm-in deals.
The 8444.49-square kilometre Bobara WK was offered in the third round of the Indonesia Petroleum Bid Round 2023. The minimum exploration commitment for the first three years of the PSC calls for three geological and geophysical studies, including 2000 square kilometres of 3D seismic data acquisition and processing, although the co-venturers plan to spin the drill bit too.
Ventura Offshore has entered into an agreement with Eldorado to provide marketing and operations management services for the Deep Value Driller, and Ventura confirmed it has now signed a contract valued at an estimated $58 million for a one-well gig with Petronas E&P Bobara.
The contract value includes provisional sums for additional services, from which Ventura will be entitled to operating fees.
“We are proud to have signed this contract to support Petronas in this important offshore drilling campaign. This contract reflects the confidence placed in our operational capabilities and our commitment to delivering safe, efficient and reliable drilling services,” commented Ventura Offshore chief executive Guilherme Coelho.
“We also thank Eldorado Drilling for their continued trust and partnership with Ventura Offshore.”
Norway’s Eldorado is a relative newcomer to the sector but is already making waves.
The offshore drilling contractor backed by Norwegian investors in February outbid Saipem in a $300 million all-cash deal to acquire the Deep Value Driller and then June it completed the $257.6 million acquisition of Vantage Drilling.
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