Two Shelf Drilling jack-up rigs booked for work in Nigeria

Offshore drilling contractor Shelf Drilling has secured new contracts for two jack-up rigs in its fleet, which have been hired to carry out operations offshore Nigeria.

According to Shelf Drilling, the new contracts are for the Adriatic I and the Shelf Drilling Mentor jack-up rigs, which will undertake drilling activities offshore Nigeria over the period of 16 and 8 months, respectively. The combined, estimated contract value for the two rig deals is approximately $93 million, excluding revenues for mobilization and demobilization.

The rig owner confirmed that both rigs completed their previous contracts in September 2023. These rigs are scheduled to kick off their new assignments in October 2023, following brief periods between contracts. While the contract for the Adriatic I rig is now firm until February 2025, the deal for the Shelf Drilling Mentor rig is firm until June 2024.

The Shelf Drilling Mentor rig previously worked for IBOM Upstream, thanks to a one-well firm contract in Nigeria that began in July 2023. The 2014-built Shelf Drilling Mentor jack-up rig is of LeTourneau Super 116-E design and can accommodate around 120 people. It is capable of working in water depths of 350 feet and its maximum drilling depth is 30,000 ft.

On the other hand, the Adriatic I jack-up rig’s last deal was a 90-day contract in Nigeria, which commenced in May 2023. The 1981-built Adriatic I jack-up rig had its last upgrade in 2014. This rig is of a Marathon LeTourneau 116-C design. The rig can operate in water depths of up to 350 ft and can accommodate 120 people.

The announcements about new deals in Nigeria come only a day after Shelf Drilling confirmed a new contract extension for another jack-up rig, which is working on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS).