Seadrill drillship kicks off its gig off Brazil

Offshore drilling contractor Seadrill has revealed that one of its drillships embarked on its assignment at a field offshore Brazil with the country’s oil and gas giant, Petrobras.

Back in December 2021, Petrobras awarded the contract for the West Jupiter drillship to Seadrill for work on the Búzios field offshore Brazil. As it came less than a month after Seadrill was awarded two other contracts with Petrobras for its West Carina and West Tellus rigs, it represented the third rig contract for Seadrill at the field.

Furthermore, the contract for the West Jupiter drillship comes with a firm term of 1,040 days and the start date was expected in December 2022. The total contract value is approximately $264 million, inclusive of mobilisation revenue and additional services.

In an update on Tuesday, 7 February 2023, Seadrill confirmed that the West Jupiter drillship had started working with Petrobras in Brazil.

“Together, the contracts for the West Jupiter, the West Carina, and the West Saturn solidify Seadrill as the largest international drilling contractor in the region and is dedicated to serving the Brazilian market for years to come,” highlighted the offshore drilling contractor in its statement.

The 2014-built West Jupiter is a sixth-generation ultra-deepwater drillship constructed by Samsung Heavy Industries. This rig is of Samsung 12,000 design. It is capable of operating in water depths of up to 12,000 ft and its maximum drilling depth is 37,500 ft.

Regarding Seadrill’s recent activities, it is worth noting that the firm entered into an agreement in December 2022 to acquire Aquadrill, formerly known as Seadrill Partners, in an all-stock transaction valued at $958 million.