Esgian Week 22 Report: A Shrinking Pool of Vintage Semisubs

Esgian provides an update on rig sales and the shrinking pool of vintage semisubs in its Week 22 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.

Report Summary

Contracts

Noble Corporation has secured a new well intervention contract with Harbour Energy in UK waters of the North Sea for the 350-ft jackup Noble Resilient.

Drilling Activity and Discoveries

The recently drilled offshore production well at the Kupe oil and gas field in New Zealand is underperforming despite a recent wireline well intervention.

BW Energy has expanded its Hibiscus / Ruche Phase 1 drilling campaign on the Dussafu licence offshore Gabon to nine wells, adding a second Hibiscus South well, a fifth Hibiscus well and a Bourdon prospect test well.

Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) has started drilling the Goktepe-2 well in the Sakarya gas field, in the Black Sea offshore Turkey.

Energean has discovered 270 ft of net pay during its Abu Qir infill drilling campaign offshore Egypt, around twice the company’s initial expectations.

Pharos Energy has announced that preparations are well advanced for its two-well drilling program on the TGT field in Vietnam.

Valeura has started a development drilling campaign on the Nong Yao C extension in the Gulf of Thailand.

Aker BP has drilled a dry well in the North Sea offshore Norway. The well 24/6-5 Alvheim Deep is located in production licence 203, and it is the 11th exploration well drilled in this licence.

Vår Energi has drilled an exploration well in the Barents Sea offshore Norway, which is dry. The exploration well 7219/6-1 Venus is located in production licence 1025 S.

EnQuest has drilled and completed the first infill well of a three-well program at the Seligi field in Malaysia, using a tender assisted rig.

Progress on moving the Equinor-operated Kveikje discovery towards development has been slow, according to one of the licence partners.

Demand

BW Energy is exploring rig availability and securing long lead items for a 2025 exploration program at the Kudu field on PL 003 offshore Namibia.

Ithaca Energy’s upcoming combination with Eni’s UK business increases the likelihood of developing its Cambo project, located west of the Shetland Islands.

Jadestone Energy has submitted an environment plan to re-enter and sidetrack the existing Skua-11 well in production licence AC/L8 in the Timor Sea, offshore Australia.

Baron Oil has postponed the expected spud date for the Chuditch-2 appraisal well offshore Timor-Leste after discussions with the operator of a suitable rig for testing the original Chuditch-1 discovery.

Mobilisation/Rig Moves

Saipem-managed 375-ft jackup Perro Negro 9 arrived at Ras Tanura anchorage in Saudi Arabia.

The 400-ft jackup Admarine 503, owned by Advanced Drilling Services (ADES), is being towed to Bahrain's Arab Shipbuilding and Repair Yard Company (ASRY).

ADES' 375-ft jackup rig Emerald Driller has arrived at its offshore location in Indonesia after a journey from Qatar aboard a heavy-lift vessel.

Indian state oil company ONGC has moved 45 jackups to new locations ahead of the Indian monsoon season.

Rig Sales

Dolphin Drilling has decided to sell its recently acquired 5,500-ft idle semisubmersible, the Dolphin Leader (formerly Transocean Leader).

Constellation 3,600-ft semisubmersible Olinda Star has been sold for recycling following a transaction from early May 2024.

Other News

Vår Energi has signed an agreement with Concedo for the disposal of a 20% interest in the Bøyla field in the North Sea for a consideration of $24 million.

Dolphin Drilling booked a net loss of $16.8 million in the first quarter of 2024 and revenues of $10.1 million.

Rig owner Northern Ocean stated that it is currently in active discussions with potential customers in West Africa and harsh environment markets for contracts that could potentially commence in the second half of 2024.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries received six bids for four blocks in its Shallow Water Competitive Bidding Round 2023/2024, which closed on 27 May 2024.

Brazilian drilling contractor Constellation Oil Services Holding reported an adjusted net loss of $9.7 million for the first quarter of 2024, while its revenues increased 2.5% year over year to $143.9 million.

Mineral Resources Development Company Limited (MRDC) has agreed to acquire up to a 50% stake in Twinza’s Pasca A project offshore Papua New Guinea.