Petrobras, Sete pick mediator over giant rig order dispute

Brazilian oil company Petrobras and offshore drilling contractor Sete Brasil have initiated an out of court mediation over an offshore rig order dispute.

Sete Brasil was established in 2011 to build, own and operate a series of ultra-deepwater drillships and semi-submersibles to develop the pre-salt oil fields off Brazil’s Atlantic coast and to be used by Petrobras.

This was supposed to be a 28-rigs, $90 billion in revenues project. However, following a widespread corruption scandal in Brazil, Sete failed to obtain the funds needed to pay for the rigs it had ordered from Sembcorp and Keppel, and Petrobras also refused to commit to the whole rig contract package.

Sete Brazil in April 2016 filed for bankruptcy protection as its only client Petrobras failed to book a big enough drilling rig order, cutting the initial plan for 28 rigs down to ten.

The mediation announced on Thursday will be carried out by Gustavo Binenbojm, whom which the two companies have selected to act as an impartial third party mediator, without decision-making power.

He will assists and encourage the parties to identify or develop consensual solutions to the rig order dispute.

Offshore Energy Today Staff