Drillship West Polaris will continue drilling offshore Brazil until early 2031
Bermuda-based drilling company Seadrill has secured a contract extension with Petrobras worth $480 million for one of its six drilling rigs operating offshore Brazil.
Over the past few months, Petrobras had been in extensive negotiations with its main suppliers concerning rig contract extensions, which resulted in new awards for multiple units operated by Transocean, Valaris, Constellation Oil Services, Foresea and Ventura Offshore.
According to Seadrill, Petrobras has agreed to a three-year extension for the drillship West Polaris.
The $480 million charter is expected to commence in direct continuation of the current programme in January 2028, when the rig will be employed to drill development wells in the giant Buzios pre-salt field in the Santos basin.
The two sides also agreed to new dayrates on the existing contract, which will be $409,200 until March 2027, then increasing to $454,700 through January 2028.
“This award enhances Seadrill’s earnings visibility for a mature asset into the next decade,” said Seadrill chief executive Samir Ali.
Seadrill operates six drilling rigs offshore Brazil, including five with Petrobras and one with Norway’s Equinor.
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