Ventura Offshore rig staying longer with Eni and Petronas’ Searah in Southeast Asia

September 24, 2026, by Melisa Cavcic

Brazilian deepwater offshore drilling contractor Ventura Offshore has secured more action time for its semi-submersible rig off the coast of Indonesia with subsidiaries of Searah, a joint venture between Italy’s Eni and Malaysia’s Petronas.

SSV Catarina rig; Source: Ventura Offshore

Ventura Offshore has disclosed a contract amendment for its SSV Catarina rig with Searah West Ganal and Searah Ganal Deepwater, both of which are subsidiaries of Searah. This covers the drilling of the JKNE Upside-1 Dir well.

In addition to the four optional wells exercised previously, the latest extension is expected to keep the rig busy into December 2026. The one-well addition also further increases the rig owner’s firm backlog by approximately $21.7 million.

With a maximum drilling depth of 35,000 feet (10,668 meters), the 2012-built SSV Catarina rig is suitable for operations in ultra-deepwater depths of up to 10,000 feet (3,050 meters).

The latest well addition in Indonesia comes shortly after Ventura Offshore agreed with Eldorado Drilling to provide marketing and operations management services for the Deep Value Driller seventh-generation drillship.