Petrobras green lights $1.7 billion worth of rig contracts in heated drilling market

Transocean, Petroserv, Foresea and Constellation all set to be awarded new charters in Brazil

New awards: Petrobras chief executive Jean Paul Prates
New awards: Petrobras chief executive Jean Paul PratesPhoto: REUTERS/SCANPIX

Brazilian state-controlled oil giant Petrobras has approved the contracting of four deep-water rigs as it seeks to replenish its fleet in a heated market with rising demand for offshore drilling operations.

In April, Petrobras received a total of 46 commercial bids from nine different drilling contractors eager to secure fresh long-term charters with the Brazilian company.

In a communique sent to drillers and obtained by Upstream, Petrobras approved the charter of four rigs under three-year periods each that will result in contract awards totalling about $1.7 billion.

These include the Petroserv drillship Pacific Zonda, the Transocean drillship Deepwater Aquila, the Foresea drillship Norbe VIII and the Constellation Oil Services semi-submersible rig Alpha Star.

After rounds of negotiations, Transocean and Constellation kept their original bid prices at $504.5 million and $343.6 million, respectively, industry sources told Upstream.

However, Petrobras was able to secure small reductions with Petroserv and Foresea — the latter being the renamed drilling arm of local oilfield services provider Ocyan.

Petroserv agreed to cut the price of the Pacific Zonda from $507.9 million to $492.8 million, while Foresea reduced the Norbe VIII bid from $415.1 million to $396.7 million, according to the communique.

Transocean owns or has partial ownership interests in and operates a fleet of 39 mobile offshore drilling units, consisting of 29 ultra-deepwater floaters and 10 harsh environment floaters.Photo: TRANSOCEAN

No other contractor filed an appeal to try to disqualify any of the four proposals, prompting Petrobras to approve the signing of the rig contracts.

The Pacific Zonda, Deepwater Aquila, Norbe VIII and Alpha Star are expected to begin their respective new contracts with Petrobras in 2024.

The four units will add to the 10 rigs contracted by Petrobras over the past year that will be used mainly for development drilling in the Campos and Santos basins.

These 10 contracts combined amounted to roughly $4.4 billion and included the Transocean drillships Deepwater Corcovado, Deepwater Orion and Dhirubhai Deepwater KG2, the Valaris drillship DS-8, the Noble Corporation drillship Noble Faye Kozack, the Constellation drillship Brava Star, the Diamond Offshore semisub Ocean Courage, and the Foresea drillships ODN I and ODN II, as well as the semisub Norbe VI.

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Published 31 August 2023, 12:38Updated 6 September 2023, 11:24
BrazilPetrobrasTransoceanForeseaConstellation Oil Services