New York-listed offshore driller Valaris has won a contract for one of its drillships from supermajor Shell.
Valaris stated that the UK firm hired the 2015-built drillship Valaris DS-8 for work on the company’s Orca project, formerly known as Gato do Mato, offshore Brazil.
The rig is currently operating in the country under a contract with state-owned giant Petrobras. The three-year deal is set to expire in December 2026.
The contract with Shell is expected to commence in the first quarter of 2027, with an estimated duration of approximately 800 days and a total contract value of approximately $300m. The contract also includes options with a total estimated duration of approximately one year.
“We continue to successfully execute our commercial strategy, with over $2.5bn of backlog secured year to date to support future earnings and cash flow,” said Anton Dibowitz, president and CEO of Valaris.
The Orca development plan includes the installation of an FPSO vessel designed to produce up to 120,000 barrels of oil per day. The current estimated recoverable resource volumes of the development are approximately 370m bbl.
Initial operations will involve the reinjection of natural gas for reservoir pressure support, with future optionality to export gas to onshore facilities. It is anticipated that Orca will begin production in 2029.
