Ventura Offshore Secures Approximately US$58 Million Drilling Contract with PETRONAS for Deepwater Well in Indonesia

en.Wedoany.com Reported - Ventura Offshore has signed a one-well drilling contract with PETRONAS E&P Bobara Sdn. Bhd. to execute drilling operations in Indonesia using the seventh-generation ultra-deepwater drillship Deep Value Driller. The contract is valued at approximately US$58 million, including provisional amounts for additional services, and Ventura Offshore will receive operation and management fees from the project. Concurrently, Ventura Offshore has also entered into an agreement with Eldorado Drilling to handle the marketing and operational management of the Deep Value Driller.

This contract corresponds to the Bobara Production Sharing Contract (PSC) block operated by PETRONAS. According to official PETRONAS data, Bobara is located in an ultra-deepwater area in eastern Indonesia, with PETRONAS serving as operator through PETRONAS E&P Bobara. In 2025, PETRONAS signed a farm-out agreement with Pertamina for the Bobara PSC, with Pertamina acquiring a 24.5% participating interest; TotalEnergies also holds 24.5%, while PETRONAS retains 51% and continues as operator. The Bobara PSC was initially signed in May 2024 between PETRONAS and SKK Migas, Indonesia's upstream oil and gas regulatory body.

Public information indicates that this single-well operation corresponds to the Redha-1 exploration well in the Bobara block, located offshore West Papua, and is part of an ultra-deepwater exploration project. The Deep Value Driller will undertake the drilling of this well in the block. The contract secured by Ventura Offshore this time covers drilling operations and also includes the operational management of the drillship. The approximately US$58 million contract value includes provisional amounts for additional services and does not equate to the total revenue recognizable by Ventura Offshore.

The Deep Value Driller is a seventh-generation drillship built in 2014, designed to the GustoMSC P10,000 specification, with a maximum operating water depth of 10,000 feet and a maximum drilling depth of 40,000 feet. It features dual-activity capability, is equipped with two seven-ram blowout preventers, has a maximum hook load of 2.5 million pounds, and accommodates 210 personnel. The vessel was previously operated by Saipem under a bareboat charter arrangement and has already executed drilling projects in Indonesia.

The asset ownership of the drillship is currently in a transition phase. Deep Value Driller AS signed a US$300 million sale agreement with Eldorado Drilling in February 2026, of which US$70 million was paid at signing, with the remaining US$230 million to be paid upon delivery of the drillship. According to the latest information from Deep Value Driller AS, the vessel is scheduled to complete the handover following Saipem's redelivery in Labuan, Malaysia, and is expected to be delivered to Eldorado Drilling by mid-September. Ventura Offshore will subsequently be responsible for the vessel's market development and operational management, and has already secured this PETRONAS single-well contract in Indonesia.

PETRONAS currently operates multiple PSC blocks in Indonesia, including Bobara, Ketapang, North Madura II, and Serpang. The Bobara drilling campaign remains in the exploration phase, and the results of the Redha-1 well and subsequent appraisal plans have not yet been disclosed by PETRONAS.