Australian operator Beach Energy is slightly red faced after missing an opportunity to use an existing offshore drilling rig in New Zealand for its upcoming infill well at the Kupe gas field.
Instead of contracting the jack-up Valaris 249, which has been working in New Zealand since January 2022 for OMV, Beach has to mobilise a different jack-up from Australia to begin drilling at Kupe in the third quarter this year.
Coincidentally, the rig coming from Australia is also owned by Valaris, while the rig with OMV is leaving New Zealand to start a new contract offshore Trinidad & Tobago late in the second quarter or early in the third quarter this year, according to Valaris.
