Offshore drilling firm Stena Drilling has secured a drilling contract with China's CNOOC for its drillship Stena IceMax in Gabon.
The contract is with CNOOC's subsidiary CNOOC Africa Holding Ltd. (CNOOC).
According to Stena Drilling, the two-well program is scheduled for Q1 2023. Stena said that the drilling program off the coast of Gabon had an estimated total campaign duration of 90 days. Financial details were not disclosed.
The ten-year-old drillship, built by Samsung Heavy Industries, is currently working for Energean offshore Israel.
Apart from the contract with CNOOC for Gabon drilling next year, Stena Drilling has recently secured a contract for the drillship to drill for BP off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, in 2023. The drilling project is expected to take 80 days to complete. Stena Drilling did not share the exact spud date.
On its website, Stena Drilling describes the Stena IceMAX as the world's first dynamically positioned, dual-mast ice-class drillship.
The Stena IceMAX is a DP Class 3 drillship that can operate in harsh environments and drill in depths of up to 10,000 feet (3048 meters).
According to data supplied to Offshore Engineer by Wood Mackenzie, global average dayrates for ultra-deepwater floating drilling rigs were around $326,500, and for deepwater floaters, about $300,000.
Reuters this week reported, citing analysts and executives from drilling companies, that dayrates from some offshore drilling rigs have reached $400,000 and could soon hit the $500,000 mark. Read More.