Esgian Week 35 Report: Petronas Plans Return to Mexico

Esgian provides an update on plans for Petronas to return to the deep waters off Mexico in its Week 35 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.

Report Summary

Contracts

Malaysia's Velesto said Monday it has secured a Letter of Award for its 350-ft jackup Naga 3 from Vietnam-based Thang Long Joint Operating Company (TLJOC).

Dolphin Drilling’s Letter of Intent (LoI) with an undisclosed operator in the UK for its 1,500-ft semisub Borgland Dolphin has lapsed and the rig is now available for new work from late Q3 2025.

China's COSL has confirmed it has secured new contracts for two jackup rigs recently suspended by Saudi Aramco.

Demand

Mexico’s Comisión Nacional de Hidrocarburos has approved a 15-month extension to the first additional exploration period for Lukoil Upstream Mexico, allowing the company extra time to drill the Tsol t’ann-1EXP well.

Petronas Carigali subsidiary PC Caligari Mexico Operations plans to evaluate its 2023 Naajal-1EXP discovery offshore Mexico, with an expected return to drilling in deep waters on Block 4 off Veracruz and Tabasco in late 2026. Petronas drilled offshore Mexico in the second half of 2023 with Noble 10,000-ft drillship Noble Globetrotter I and encountered oil and gas at the Naajal-1EXP well on contractual area CNH-R01-L04-A4.CS/2016 (Block 4). Yaxchilan Este-1EXP, a well previously drilled on the block in 2019, was unsuccessful as the water got into the well. According to plans filed with Mexico’s Comisión Nacional de Hidrocarburos, PC Carigali Mexico will reprocess 3D seismic data and carry out geophysical and geological studies from now into 2026 and plans to drill the Naajal-2DEL well in the fourth quarter of 2026. The company will also carry out a production test.

Oil India Limited (OIL) has issued a new tender for a jackup rig to work in India in 2025.

TotalEnergies is no longer planning to progress its Glendronach and Edradour West wells located in the Greater Laggan Area (GLA) in the West of Shetland.

Mexican regulatory agency Comisión Nacional de Hidrocarburos has approved Hokchi Energy’s plan to develop the Xaxamani field in the shallow water Block 31 offshore Mexico.

Mobilization/Rig Moves

Borr Drilling’s 400-ft jackup Prospector 1 is en route to a North Sea location to start drilling operations for ONE-Dyas.

Velesto Energy's 350-ft jackup Naga 2 has completed its mandatory five-year Special Periodical Survey (SPS).

Seadrill 12,000-ft drillship West Auriga is mobilising out of the US GOM, ahead of a new contract with Petrobras offshore Brazil to begin in late 2024.

Diamond Offshore 12,000-ft drillship Ocean BlackRhino has completed work for Woodside at the Sangomar field offshore Senegal and is now moving to Guinea-Bissau.

Dolphin Drilling’s 6,000-ft semisub Blackford Dolphin is expected to begin its drilling contract in India in October 2024.

Valaris-owned 350-ft jackup Valaris 76 has departed Hamriya in the UAE and is en route to Saudi Arabia to start its drilling campaign for Saudi Aramco.

The 350-ft jackup rig Valaris 148 has arrived at the Ras Tanura anchorage in Saudi Arabia, marking the start of its contract suspension with Saudi Aramco.

Seadrill 10,000-ft drillship West Polaris is mobilizing out of Singapore ahead of a new contract with Petrobras offshore Brazil.

Other News

Eldorado Drilling AS has acquired $275 million in senior secured debt financing, to be used to finance the delivery of 7th generation 12,000-ft drillship Draco, also known as West Draco.

UK operator Harbour Energy now expects to complete the acquisition of the Wintershall Dea asset portfolio in early September.

Marine conservation organization Oceana UK has moved forward with its legal challenge over new fossil fuel exploration licences in UK waters, filing its case at the High Court.

Responding to local media rumors, United Oil & Gas has stated that it has not drilled wells at the Walton-Morant license offshore Jamaica and thus has made no oil or gas discovery.

Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc. held a special meeting of its stockholders on 27 August 2024. Shareholders voted on and approved a proposal to adopt the agreement and plan of merger between Noble Corp. and Diamond Offshore.

Dolphin Drilling reported an increase in revenues for the second quarter of 2024 and a reduction in net loss compared to the first quarter of the year driven by a full quarter with the 1,969-ft semisub Paul B. Loyd, Jr. in operation following the rig’s integration into the fleet.

The Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) has launched a new international bid round including 12 exploration blocks in the Mediterranean Sea and Nile Delta.

TotalEnergies has taken over the operatorship of Block 3B/4B in the Orange Basin offshore South Africa after the completion of an agreement with Africa Oil Corp that has TotalEnergies and QatarEnergy farm in to the block.

EOG Resources Trinidad and bp Trinidad and Tobago have agreed to partner on the Coconut development offshore Trinidad, taking a final investment decision and planning for the first gas in 2027.

The New Zealand Government said this week it would urgently act to reverse the ban on offshore oil and gas exploration, imposed by the previous administration in 2018.

Finder Energy has completed the acquisition of a 76% interest in PSC 19-11, offshore Timor-Leste.

As part of a drive towards greater transparency, the UK regulator, the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), has launched a consultation looking at operators’ decommissioning obligations and the enforcement process. The consultation on the measures launched on Thursday 29 August asks about publishing operator names earlier in the sanctions process, as well as publishing a new decommissioning league table.

Velesto Energy's drilling services segment has posted improved second-quarter results compared to the corresponding period in 2023, with an increase in revenue and profit.