Eni prolongs Ventura Offshore rig’s drilling gig in Asia

October 2, 2025, by Melisa Cavcic

A semi-submersible rig from Ventura Offshore Midco, a subsidiary of the Brazilian deepwater offshore drilling contractor Ventura Offshore, is staying longer off the coast of Indonesia with Eni Indonesia, a subsidiary of Italy’s energy giant Eni.

SSV Catarina rig; Source: Ventura Offshore

Eni has decided to keep the 2012-built SSV Catarina semi-submersible rig occupied in Indonesian waters by exercising the second of four optional wells, which is expected to ensure the rig’s utilization into the first quarter of 2026.

This further increases Ventura Offshore’s firm backlog by approximately $10 million. However, Eni still has two remaining optional wells at its disposal, which, if exercised, could keep the rig busy through Q2 2026.

The SSV Catarina rig is suitable for operations in ultra-deepwater depths of up to 10,000 feet (3,050 meters) with drilling depths of up to 35,000 feet (10,668 meters).

The contract with Eni Indonesia started in August 2024 after Ventura Offshore began trading in June 2024 on the Euronext Growth stock exchange market in Oslo, Norway.

The company owns and operates one drillship, DS Carolina, and two semi-submersible drilling rigs, SSV Victoria and SSV Catarina. The firm also manages one drillship, DS Zonda.

The rig owner’s drillship returned to work off the coast of Brazil for Petrobras earlier this year following the lifting of the previous suspension.