Valaris strikes new long-term deals with ARO Drilling

Offshore rig owner Valaris has been awarded new bareboat charter agreements with ARO Drilling for several jack-up rigs in Saudi Arabia.

ARO Drilling, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Valaris, has signed contracts with Saudi Aramco for the same periods as the bareboat charter agreements.

Valaris explained on Monday that, under these new deals, heavy-duty harsh environment jack-up Valaris 250, heavy-duty modern jack-up Valaris 116, and standard-duty modern jack-ups Valaris 143 and 146 would each begin three-year extensions to their bareboat charter agreements upon completion of their existing agreements with ARO Drilling in December 2021.

To remind, back in April 2018, Valaris, then Rowan, was awarded four three-year contracts from ARO. Under these deals, ARO leased the EXL I (Valaris JU-143), EXL IV (Valaris JU-146), Bess Brants (Valaris JU-147), and Earnest Dees (Valaris JU-148).

When it comes to the Valaris 250, the previous extension for the rig was secured with ARO Drilling in late June 2021, which expired at the end of 2021.

Furthermore, Valaris said that ARO Drilling-owned rigs ARO 3003 and ARO 3004 had each been awarded five-year contract extensions with Aramco that will start upon completion of their existing contracts in December 2021.

Valaris’ recently appointed President and Chief Executive Officer, Anton Dibowitz, said: “We are very pleased to have secured additional work for four of our high-quality modern jack-ups, extending our long-standing relationship with Aramco, one of the largest customers for offshore drilling rigs in the world.

“ARO Drilling is a strategic asset for Valaris, providing a continued presence in an important offshore basin and long-term growth prospects via ARO’s twenty-rig newbuild program, with the first two newbuild jack-ups expected to be delivered in the second half of 2022.”