French oil major Total has received commercial proposals from up to a dozen drilling contractors in a much-anticipated tender for the charter of up to two high-specification rigs to operate in the Foz do Amazonas basin in Brazil’s northern equatorial margin.
Multiple sources told Upstream that Total has received bids from contractors such as Transocean, Pacific Drilling, Seadrill, Ocean Rig, Maersk Drilling, Noble Corporation, Ensco, Odfjell Drilling, Dolphin Drilling, Atwood Oceanics, Stena Drilling and Diamond Offshore to supply rigs to cover an ambitious drilling programme featuring as many as nine exploration wells in the new frontier play.
“Given
