Offshore drilling contractor Seadrill has secured a contract extension for one of its drillships, which will continue to carry out operations in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.
Back in April 2022, Seadrill reported that the West Neptune drillship secured a four-well extension with two one-well options with LLOG Exploration Offshore in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The 2014-built drillship has been working for LLOG since September 2021 and the firm part of its contract was set to expire in October 2022 with options until December 2022.
In November 2022, the offshore drilling contractor disclosed that the West Neptune drillship got a six-month firm term extension , with a further six-month optional period with LLOG. The extension was expected to keep the rig busy until Q4 2023.
In an update on Tuesday, 7 March 2023, Seadrill revealed that LLOG had executed approximately six months of term extensions for the West Neptune drillship, adding to the rig’s backlog in the Gulf of Mexico. The extensions will start in direct continuation of the existing term and will keep the rig busy until Q3 2024 , furthering Seadrill and LLOG’s long-term association. According to Seadrill, the total contract value for the extension is approximately $79 million.
The West Neptune is a sixth-generation ultra-deepwater Samsung 12,000 drillship. It is capable of operating in water depths of 10,000 ft to 12,000 ft. The rig’s maximum drilling depth is 37,500 ft.
Regarding Seadrill’s recent activities, it is worth noting that one of the company’s drillships recently embarked on its assignment at a field offshore Brazil with the country’s oil and gas giant, Petrobras.
This drillship started its contract with Petrobras only a week after the West Jupiter drillship did the same.