Borr jack-up rig kicks off its new five-year drilling assignment

Offshore drilling contractor Borr Drilling has confirmed that one of its premium jack-up rigs, which recently left a shipyard in the UAE, started its new drilling job in Saudi Arabia.

Two of Borr Drilling’s jack-up rigs got new contract awards in December 2022 and one of these contracts was awarded by an undisclosed company for the Frigg jack-up rig. The five-year deal for work in the Middle East comes with extension options. The estimated contract value of the firm term, including the mobilisation fee, is $282 million.

Following a six-month-long reactivation and schedule G upgrade project, Borr’s Frigg rig, which was expected to start operations as Arabia III in 3Q 2023 in the Middle East, was delivered by Ocean Oilfield’s shipyard, Hamriyah Sharjah UAE. The rig, which arrived at the shipyard in February 2023, departed on 13 August 2023.

“Borr Drilling is excited to share that our premium rig Arabia III has commenced operations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Our team has successfully planned and executed the shipyard project, leading to the start of operations ahead of our target and commitment to the customer,” outlined the rig owner.

The 2013-built Frigg jack-up rig is of KFELS Super A Class design and can operate in water depths of up to 400 ft. The rig’s maximum drilling depth is 35,000 ft.

Encouraged by the ongoing upcycle in the offshore drilling market and strong jack-up demand, Borr Drilling recently confirmed that it was engaged in active discussions with Seatrium (formerly Keppel) to expedite delivery of its rigs Vale and Var to August and November 2024, respectively.