Saipem’s rig trio rakes in millions for jobs with Eni in Africa, Mediterranean, and Far East

October 22, 2025, by Melisa Cavcic

Italy’s engineering, drilling, and construction services giant Saipem has boosted its offshore drilling order intake with new multimillion-dollar contracts and extensions that are perceived to reinforce its presence in key strategic areas, such as West Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Far East. As a result, three rigs will be on drilling duty with Eni, an Italian energy titan.

These new contracts and extensions, worth $135 million, cover three mobile offshore drilling units (MODUs) in Saipem’s rig fleet, encompassing 12 drilling rigs, of which the Italian player owns nine and manages the remaining three on behalf of their owners.

“In a competitive and constantly evolving market environment, Saipem continues to stand out for the reliability and operational strength of its drilling units, contributing to the success of major international operators’ projects,” explained the European giant.

Thanks to these deals, the Santorini seventh-generation drillship will continue operations in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, respectively, on behalf of Eni Ghana Exploration & Production and Eni Côte d’Ivoire, ensuring continuity of activities ahead of the next drilling campaign in the Mediterranean Sea.

View on Offshore-energy.

The Saipem-managed Deep Value Driller seventh-generation drillship, which completed its operations with Eni in Ghana, will be employed on a new project in Indonesia, enabling it to work for Eni Ganal Deepwater. These drilling activities are expected to begin by the end of the year.

After recently completing a drilling campaign in Egypt for Burullus Gas Company, an Egyptian oil and gas company active in offshore gas production, the Scarabeo 9 sixth-generation semi-submersible rig has started operations in Libya under a new contract with Eni North Africa. This will keep the rig active until early 2026.

These rig deals follow a trifecta of awards Saipem recently won for BP’s gas project in Azerbaijan, which come with a total value of around $600 million.