Shelf Drilling’s jack-up rig staying another year in Angola

Offshore drilling contractor Shelf Drilling has secured a contract extension for one of its jack-up rigs, which will continue carrying out operations in Angola.

Following the previous extension in November 2022, Shelf Drilling disclosed on Wednesday that a further 12-month contract extension had been exercised for the Shelf Drilling Tenacious jack-up rig. This is in direct continuation of the rig’s current contract for drilling operations offshore Angola. Thanks to this extension, the rig is now committed until November 2024.

The 2007-built Shelf Drilling Tenacious jack-up rig, which is of a Baker Marine Pacific Class 375 design, had an upgrade in 2022. This rig is capable of operating in water depths of up to 375 ft and can accommodate 150 people.

Shelf Drilling’s fleet status report from November 2022 shows that this rig has been working for Chevron’s subsidiary in Angola, Cabinda Gulf Oil Company Limited (CABGOC), since January 2022.

While CABGOC operates two concessions in Angola – Block 0 off the coast of Cabinda province and Block 14 in deep water – the firm also has a non-operated interest in an onshore joint venture, Angola LNG Limited, a 5.2 million-metric-ton-per-year plant in Soyo.

Over the past few months, Shelf Drilling has been busy winning new deals and extending existing ones for its fleet of rigs. The most recent three-year deals were secured last month for operations off Nigeria.