Valaris Adds $220 Million in Offshore Drilling and Plugging Contracts

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 7, offshore drilling contractor Valaris announced a new batch of drilling contracts and extensions, adding approximately $220 million in contract backlog, covering waters offshore Suriname, Australia, the UK, and Denmark. The scope of work includes deepwater exploration drilling, jackup rig drilling, permanent well plugging and abandonment, and offshore accommodation support services. This amount represents the contract backlog added since the previous fleet status report on August 5, excluding certain mobilization costs and capital expenditure reimbursements.

Offshore Suriname, PETRONAS Suriname Exploration & Production, a subsidiary of Malaysia's national oil company Petronas, awarded Valaris a two-well exploration drilling contract to be executed using the VALARIS DS-18 drillship. The contract was previously awarded via a letter of award and is scheduled to commence in the fourth quarter of 2026, with an estimated duration of up to 7 months. Additional service fees, as well as drillship mobilization and demobilization costs, are not included in this contract backlog figure.

Offshore Australia, a new contract was added for the VALARIS 107 jackup rig, with an estimated duration of 300 days and a contract backlog of approximately $50 million, including priced options but excluding mobilization and demobilization reimbursements. The rig will undertake the new project after completing its existing contract commitments.

In the southern North Sea, Valaris was awarded a multi-well permanent plugging and abandonment contract with an estimated duration of 341 days and a contract backlog of approximately $41.5 million, including an annual cost escalation adjustment mechanism. The contract was awarded on a fleet basis and may be executed by any eligible and available rig in Valaris's North Sea fleet, with the latest commencement window extending to December 2030, plus an optional one-well, approximately 19-day scope of work.

In the Danish North Sea, INEOS extended the contract for the VALARIS 122 jackup rig for an estimated continuous duration of 126 days starting in February 2027, at a day rate of $115,000. The agreement also includes follow-on options applicable to UK and Danish North Sea operations, with an estimated total duration of 699 days.

In the East Irish Sea offshore UK, Valaris adjusted a previously signed drilling contract with Eni. The approximately 8.5-month scope originally scheduled for the VALARIS 72 will instead be undertaken by the VALARIS 121 starting in November 2026. Following the adjustment, the VALARIS 72 is expected to complete its original commitments in March 2027, approximately 6 months earlier than previously planned, corresponding to approximately $17 million in additional contract backlog.

In the UK North Sea, there is also an offshore wind support scope. Seatrium extended the offshore accommodation support contract for the VALARIS 248 by 31 days, with the extension commencing in October 2026, adding approximately $2.5 million in contract backlog. In addition, Valaris sold the semi-submersible rig VALARIS MS-1 and the jackup rig VALARIS 111 in September for dismantling and recycling.