Canada-based Valeura Energy has chartered a jackup drilling rig for operations in the Gulf of Thailand.
The company chartered the 2007-built jackup Shelf Drilling Enterprise, owned by a subsidiary of Saudi driller ADES, for a three-year term ending on December 31, 2029. No financial details were revealed.
Valeura has an option regarding the start date and currently plans to commence drilling operations with the rig in the fourth quarter of 2026, initially focused on delivering production-acceleration projects.
“Three consecutive years of an approximately 200% reserves replacement ratio have materially transformed our asset base. With 57.8 mmbbls of proved plus probable reserves as of December 31, 2025, we see more opportunity and a larger inventory of drilling targets within our core Gulf of Thailand portfolio,” said Sean Guest, president and CEO of Valeura.
He added that there is a favourable pricing environment in the rig market, so they capitalised on the opportunity to lock in the rig.
“We intend to pursue further development, appraisal, and exploration drilling across our portfolio with a programme of continual drilling through the end of 2029,” Guest concluded.
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