More action time for Dolphin Drilling’s 1974-built rig offshore India

November 20, 2025, by Melisa Cavcic

Dolphin Drilling, an Oslo-listed, Aberdeen-headquartered owner and operator of a fleet of harsh environment mid-water and deepwater semi-submersible drilling rigs, has secured a contract extension for one of its units with Oil India Limited, an exploration and production company, for operations off the coast of India.

Blackford Dolphin rig; Source: Dolphin Drilling

The rig owner revealed that Oil India has exercised its option to extend its drilling contract for the Blackford Dolphin deepwater-capable semi-submersible rig, which embarked on its 14-month hydrocarbon exploration campaign with the Asian player in November 2024.

Thanks to this, the rig will now continue operations for an additional 120 days, aside from the initial three-well firm campaign over an estimated 14-month duration. As a result, the semi-submersible is booked for work through to May 10, 2026.

This will enable the mobile offshore drilling unit (MODU) to complete drilling, testing, and abandonment work at locations east of India. The extended term of the scope of work is based on the same rate and terms as the existing contract.

The 1974-built Blackford Dolphin is a semi-submersible drilling rig of an enhanced Aker H-3 design, which can accommodate 120 people.

The contract extension comes more than two months after Dolphin Drilling disclosed a letter of intent (LoA) for another rig in its semi-submersible drilling fleet.