Dolphin Drilling News

Esgian provides an update on new contract awards for floating rigs in its Week 37 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.Report SummaryContractsTransocean Ltd. has secured a 365-day contract for the 12,000-ft drillship Deepwater Atlas with bp in the US GOM.Norwegian operator Aker BP has extended the contract for Saipem’s 10,000-ft semisub Scarabeo 8 in Norway.Drilling Activity and DiscoveriesEquinor has found hydrocarbons at the Sitka C-02 exploration well in the Flemish Pass area offshore Newfoundland & Labrador…

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 SummaryContractsMalaysia'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…

Esgian provides an update on new rig deals in its Week 30 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.Report SummaryContractsValaris has been awarded a multi-year contract with Equinor Energy do Brasil, a subsidiary of Equinor, for the 12,000-ft drillship Valaris DS-17. The contract relates to work on Project Raia offshore Brazil.Noble Corporation has secured a one-well contract for 350-ft jackup Noble Resolve with Central European Petroleum (CEPetro) offshore Poland. The upcoming work will…

Esgian provides an update on the current lull in contracting in its Week 27 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.Report SummaryContractsAban Offshore-owned 250-ft jackup Aban II has received a letter of award (LOA) from Oil India for an offshore work program in Andhra Pradesh, India.Shelf Drilling North Sea has secured a new 17-month contract for the 400-ft Shelf Drilling Winner (previously known as Noble Sam Turner) jackup rig with TotalEnergies EP Denmark.Drilling Activity and DiscoveriesThe…

Esgian provides an update on Noble and Diamond Offshore’s announcement of merger plans in its Week 24 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.Report SummaryContractsADES has completed the signing of a drilling contract for a jackup with Suez Oil Company (SUCO) in Egypt.Mergers & AcquisitionsNoble Corporation and Diamond Offshore Drilling have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Noble will acquire Diamond in a stock plus cash transaction. As part of the transaction, Diamond shareholders will receive 0.2316 shares of Noble…

Esgian provides an update on rig sales and the shrinking pool of vintage semisubs in its Week 22 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.Report SummaryContractsNoble 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 DiscoveriesThe recently drilled offshore production well at the Kupe oil and gas field in New Zealand is underperforming despite a recent wireline well intervention.BW…

Esgian provides an update on new commitments confirmed for Odfjell Drilling and Borr Drilling rigs and new tender opportunities emerging in Africa in its Week 21 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.Report SummaryContractsEquinor has exercised an option to extend the use of Odfjell Drilling’s 10,000-ft Deepsea Aberdeen for a batch of eight wells on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. With this, Odfjell Drilling’s owned fleet of four semisubs has a firm backlog until at least mid-2026.Borr Drilling has confirmed new work for its 400-ft jackup Prospector 1 in the UK and the Netherlands…

Esgian provides an update on Saudi suspensions in its Week 20 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.Report SummaryContractsDrilling contractor Arabian Drilling confirmed that the suspension of three contracts for its jackups with Saudi Aramco have yet to be finalised but are expected to take effect towards the end of the third quarter of 2024. CEO Ghassan Mirdad stated that the company is actively exploring opportunities to redeploy these rigs with other clients. Arabian Drilling announced…

Esgian reports an eventful week with contract confirmations, terminations and suspensions in its Week 18 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.Report SummaryContractsBurullus Gas Company, the self-operated joint venture between Shell Egypt, the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS), the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) and Petronas, has agreed to move forward with the development of Phase 11 in Egypt's Nile Delta in the Mediterranean Sea.QatarEnergy has exercised a one-year option for Borr Drilling 400-ft jackup Groa…

Esgian reports shifts in demand in its Week 13 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.Report overview:ContractsADES has received a Letter of Intent (LOI) from PTTEP Energy Development Company Limited for an 18-month jackup drilling contract in the Gulf of Thailand. Operations are expected to begin in the second half of 2024, with an unspecified jackup.Drilling Activity and DiscoveriesThe Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD) has granted Aker BP a drilling permit for an exploration well in…

Esgian reports that drilling contracts have been announced this week for operations in Brazil and the Philippines, and new discoveries have been confirmed in the UK and Namibia in its Week 11 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.ContractsCOSL Drilling has emerged as the winner for Petrobras' moored semisubmersible tender with the 4,600-ft Nanhai 8 (also known as Nan Hai Ba Hao).Noble has secured a high-dayrate drillship contract with Prime Energy in the Philippines.Drilling Activity and…

Esgian reports rig-related updates from Dolphin Drilling, Diamond Offshore, and Seadrill in its Week 9 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.Report Outline:ContractsDespite Tullow Oil’s recent announcement that it would take a break from drilling offshore Ghana, Noble Corp. has stated that there has been no contract termination announcement and that its 12,000-ft drillship Noble Venturer is currently still contracted to Tullow into March 2025.Masirah Oil Ltd has signed a rig contract with…

Esgian's last roundup of the year for the Week 52 puts spotlight on new developments for Dolphin Drilling semisub, Seadrill drillships, as well as Shell’s plans for Australia and ONGC’s new tender for jackups in India.ContractsDolphin Drilling has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with an undisclosed operator for the 1,500-ft semisubmersible Borgland Dolphin to undertake a 500-day drilling campaign in the UK. The drilling campaign is planned to begin directly after the firm part of the contract period with EnQuest, which was announced in late November 2023.

Esgian has published its Week 48 Rig Market Roundup highlighting that new contract awards were revealed for a Velesto Drilling jackup, two Seadrill drillships and a Dolphin Drilling semisub. Meanwhile, Wintershall Dea is planning to drill a new carbon storage well in Norway.ContractsMalaysia’s Velesto Drilling has agreed on an extension of a contract with Carigali Hess Operating Company for another year and six months.Seadrill has secured a short-term contract for 12,000ft drillship West Vela in the US Gulf of Mexico with QuarterNorth Energy…

Offshore drilling company Seadrill has moved a step closer to reaching bankruptcy emergence after the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas approved the disclosure statement for the company's proposed plan of reorganization.Seadrill said Friday that the court had authorized the company to distribute the disclosure statement and solicit votes from all lenders on the Plan. The court also set a hearing to consider approval of the Plan for October 26, 2021."The…

Offshore drilling rig contractors Transocean Ltd and Dolphin Drilling have made a new offer to buy the assets of stricken rival Seadrill Ltd, Dolphin's chief executive said on Friday.Oslo-listed Seadrill, founded by Norwegian-born tycoon John Fredriksen, is seeking to emerge from U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings under an alternative financial plan filed in court last month."I can confirm that Dolphin and Transocean submitted an updated bid yesterday," Dolphin Chief Executive Bjoernar Iversen told Reuters.Seadrill's Oslo-listed shares traded 5.5% up by 1425 GMT…

Noble Corp and a consortium that includes Transocean Ltd and Dolphin Drilling are competing to acquire the assets of Seadrill Ltd, the bankrupt offshore oil driller controlled by Norwegian-born tycoon John Fredriksen, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.Seadrill is trying to emerge from its second U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy in four years: like many in the industry, it expanded its drilling rigs too aggressively in the mid-2010s to withstand a subsequent plunge in energy prices and rig hire rates.

Harland and Wolff, the Belfast shipyard that built the Titanic, has been sold by owner Dolphin Drilling to infrastructure specialists InfraStrata for £6 million ($7.3 million), saving the facility from closure, InfraStrata said on Tuesday.Harland and Wolff's multipurpose fabrication facility, quaysides and docking facilities are ideally suited for the energy infrastructure industry and the company's projects, InfraStrata said.All 79 workers who did not opt for voluntary redundancy earlier in the year will be retained, the company said."Harland and Wolff is a landmark asset and its reputation a

The Belfast shipyard Harland and Wolff, the 158-year-old shipyard in Northern Ireland that built the Titanic, is preparing for bankruptcy.The ship building company was put into administration on Monday after its bankrupt Norwegian owner Dolphin Drilling failed to find a buyer and calls for its nationalization were rebuffed.The shipyard has been occupied by workers since last Monday as part of a high-profile campaign to save the yard, which is due to formally cease trading at 5.15pm on Monday.They said on Monday they would block administrators from entering the site. Trade unions said that they will not give up on this famous shipyard.

Norwegian oil and gas rig operator Dolphin Drilling filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday, leading creditors to seize its key assets in a restructuring that will see the company maintain operations.Formerly known as Fred. Olsen Energy, Dolphin Drilling ASA had debt of just over $1 billion at the end of 2018 and a net loss for the year of almost $300 million, its annual report shows.Once a dominant supplier of drilling rigs to oil and gas firms exploring the North Sea, Dolphin was…

Dolphin Drilling AS, a subsidiary of Fred. Olsen Energy ASA, has extended contract with Statoil for Bideford Dolphin. "We have entered into a one well contract extension, including one optional well, with Statoil for use of the semi-submersible drilling rig Bideford Dolphin for operation on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, with commencement latest 31 July 2017," said a statement from the company.   The one-well program is estimated to take 50 days and estimated contract value is approximately USD 8.6 million.

Even as world energy prices continue to maintain low pricing levels, offshore contracts are there to be won. Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd has secured a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) conversion contract as well as three repair, upgrade and modification contracts worth a total of about S$125 million. The FPSO conversion project Keppel Shipyard will be undertaking is for Armada Madura EPC Limited, a joint venture between long-standing customer Bumi Armada Berhad (Bumi Armada) and Shapoorji Pallonji Group (Shapoorji Pallonji). "This is our third conversion/upgrading project for the joint venture," said Michael Chia, Managing Director (Marine & Technology), Keppel O&M.

In a multi-million pound boost to the Northern Ireland economy, Belfast ship builder Harland and Wolff has secured a contract to carry out major work on an oil rig. Dolphin Drilling Limited has awarded H&W the contract for the drydocking and Renewal/Special Periodic Survey of its Byford Dolphin Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit (MODU). H&W Director of ship and offshore unit repair, James Lappin said that this was a significant project for Harland and Wolff and for Northern Ireland. As well as employment opportunities, the supply chain within Northern Ireland will see significant activity in support of the project, he added. Around 1,000 contractors will be employed to overhaul the structure for up to 10 weeks and 60 permanent staff are to be recruited, the Belfast firm announced.