Valaris Bags $135M Drillship Deal In Africa

New York-listed offshore driller Valaris has been awarded a five-well contract offshore West Africa for one of its drillships.

The contract, awarded to the 2014-built Valaris DS-15 drillship by an undisclosed client, is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2026.

Based on an estimated duration of 250 days, the total contract value is approximately $135 million, including upfront payments for rig upgrades and mobilisation.

The total contract value does not include the provision of additional services. The contract includes priced options for up to five wells with an estimated total duration of 80 to 100 days.

“As part of this contract, the rig will be upgraded with an enhanced managed pressure drilling system. In addition, this contract adds to our presence offshore West Africa, where we are well positioned for future contracting opportunities,” said Anton Dibowitz, Valaris president and CEO.

Valaris also announced that it sold the 27-year-old Valaris 247 jackup, currently operating offshore Australia, to BW Energy for cash proceeds of around $108m. The sale is expected to close in the second half of 2025. As part of the sales agreement, BW Energy will be restricted from using the rig outside of its affiliated properties for the rig’s expected remaining useful life.

BW Energy previously announced that it acquired a jackup, which will be converted into a wellhead platform on its Maromba development offshore Brazil.

The development involves an initial six production wells from the wellhead platform, converted from a drilling jackup with up to 16 well slots and flowlines. The well slots and flowlines will be connected to the redeployed FPSO BW Maromba, formerly known as Polvo. The FPSO refurbishment and life extension work is already underway at the COSCO yard in China.

In a recent fleet status update, Valaris said that its contract backlog increased to approximately $4.2bn from approximately $3.6bn as of February 18, 2025. The contract backlog excludes lump sum payments such as mobilisation fees and capital reimbursements.