Petrobras has again deferred the submission dates on two tenders for ultra-deepwater drilling rigs to operating off its native Brazil.

The state-controlled company notified contractors that their bids to supply a rig for development drilling on Santos basin concession area BM-S-11 should be submitted on 14 January, rather than the previously set date of 27 December.

There was a similar move on a parallel tender calling for one or more rigs to work in water depths of up to 2000 metres in unspecified Brazilian waters.

Bids to supply these “pool” rigs were pushed back by a week to 21 January. These units are supposed to be made available in September.

The tenders, which have been subject to a string of postponements, have attracted interest from potential bidders including Seadrill, Noble Corporation, Ensco, Transocean, Diamond Offshore, Pacific Drilling, Maersk Drilling, plus Brazilian companies Ocyan, Constellation and Petroserv.

There were suggestions that the latest delay is related to the efforts of the Brazilian contractors to secure financing and financial guarantees after recently returning to the Petrobras vendor list.

Petroserv, for example, was excluded from the vendor list in 2017 after filing a legal challenge against Petrobras’ decision to cut short its contract for the drillship Carolina. However, the Petrobras management team has decided to take a more pragmatic stance and place greater strategic emphasis on the need to allow more competition between bidders.

Petrobras has taken similar action with respect to Ensco but the UK-based company has readier access to financing than the Brazilians.

Similarly, Brazil's Ocycan has recently emerged from a debt restructuring process and the settlement of liabilities by parent company Odebrecht.

Like US giant Transocean, Ocyan has also benefited from an easing of Petrobras qualification rules in relation to past safety incidents involving fatalities.

The Brazilian company is now keen to find a new contract for the semi-submersible Norbe VI, a latest generation rig that last July rolled off its contract with Petrobras.

The situation is more challenging for Constellation as the company formerly known as Queiroz Galvao Oil & Gas (QGOG) is embroiled in an ongoing financial restructuring process, and might struggle to qualify for the new Petrobras tenders.

Two of Constellation's best rigs might also be tied up.

The drillship Laguna Star last year finished its contract with Petrobras but was taken up by Constellation stablemate QGOG and the company’s highest-specification unit, the drillship Brava Star, was snapped up by Shell at a reported dayrate of $110,000.

Block BM-S-11 hosts the Lula, Berbigao and Sururu pre-salt fields, where Petrobras is partnered by European players Shell, Total and Galp Energia.

Petrobras is seeking a dynamically-positioned rig and is offering a fixed two-year charter while also giving drillers the option to bid for a renewable one-year term.

The 730-day contract carries a cancellation option that gives Petrobras the right to terminate the contract at any time during its second year.

Under both rig tenders, Petrobras is looking for units to begin work in the second half of 2019.