Offshore drilling contractor Valaris said today that it has been awarded a two-year contract from Esso Exploration Angola, an affiliate of ExxonMobil, for its drillship Valaris DS-9.

The drillship Valaris DS-9 is currently preservation stacked in the Canary Islands, where it will be re-activated and then mobilised to Angola ahead of the June 2022 contract commencement date, the company said.

Stay a step ahead with the Upstream News app
Read high quality news and insight on the oil and gas business and its energy transition on-the-go. The News app offers you more control over your Upstream reading experience than any other platform.

It is a Samsung GF12000 drillship built at the Samsung Heavy Industries facility in Geoje, South Korea and was commissioned in 2015.

The 755-foot vessel is rated for a maximum water depth of 12,000 feet and can drill as deep as 40,000 feet.

It includes crew accommodations of up to 200 people.