Ultra Deepwater News

 

Exploration Well in Black Sea Offshore Block Comes Up Dry

Feb 04, 2026

An OMV Petrom-operated exploration well, drilled at the Vinekh prospect in Black Sea's Han Asparuh block off Bulgaria, has been assessed as dry, after encountering only non-significant natural gas shows, according to NewMed Energy, one of the partners in the license.The well reached a final depth of around 3,230 meters below sea level. While gas shows were encountered in the target formations, they were assessed as non-commercial…

Transocean to Acquire Valaris for $5.8B

Feb 09, 2026

Oilfield services firm Transocean RIG.Nsaid on Monday it will acquire peer Valaris VAL.N in an all-stock deal valued at $5.8 billion, expanding its exposure across deepwater, harsh-environment and shallow-water basins worldwide.Transocean shares were down 4% at $5…

Stena Drilling’s Stena Evolution Drillship Gets DNV’s Emissions Notation

Feb 05, 2026

Stena Drilling’s Stena Evolution drillship has received the Abate (P+) notation from classification society DNV.The Abate (P+) qualifier confirms defined design and control of the vessel’s power generation systems, together with an emission…

Shell Sells 20% Stake in Brazil’s Orca Deepwater Project to Kuwaiti Firm

Feb 03, 2026

Shell Brasil Petróleo, a subsidiary of Shell, has agreed to sell a 20% interest in the Orca deepwater project offshore Brazil to Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (KUFPEC).Orca, formerly known as Gato do Mator, is a deepwater development located in the pre-salt area of the Santos Basin…

Shell Nigeria Starts Maintenance on Bonga FPSO, Trims Oil Exports

Feb 02, 2026

Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company has begun planned maintenance on its Bonga deepwater oil vessel, a move that will temporarily cut Nigeria’s oil export capacity by about 225,000 barrels per day but could extend the asset’s lifespan…

Equinor Extends Seadrill Drillship’s Stay off Brazil

Jan 30, 2026

Equinor has exercised a one-year priced option for Seadrill’s ultra-deepwater drillship West Saturn for operations offshore Brazil.The exercised option adds $114 million to contract backlog and extends the original contract, which started in 2022…

Subsea7 Gets Shell’s Contract for Deepwater Development off US

Jan 30, 2026

Subsea7 has secured a sizeable contract by Shell for the Kaikias Waterflood project, a deepwater development in the Mars-Ursa Basin, off the Louisiana coast in the United States.The scope of work includes the transportation and installation of a subsea umbilical…

BP in Trinidad and Tobago Interested in Cross-Border Opportunities with Venezuela

Jan 26, 2026

BP's head of Trinidad and Tobago said on Monday the oil and gas major is still interested in cross-border opportunities with Venezuela, despite the government in Caracas suspending all bilateral energy agreements with its neighbor last year…

Noble Scoops $1.3B in Drilling Contracts, Enters Norway's Floater Market

Jan 26, 2026

Offshore drilling contractor Noble Corporation has secured new contract awards for nine rigs totaling about $1.3 billion in backlog, including a three-year deal that marks its entry into Norway’s harsh-environment floater market.The largest…

Nigeria Backs Shell’s Bonga South West Oil Project with Fresh Incentives

Jan 23, 2026

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has approved 'targeted, investment-linked' incentives for Shell's Bonga South West deepwater oil project following a meeting with the company's CEO, Tinubu's office said.The proposed incentives are the latest in…

Seadrill Firms Up Offshore Drilling Workload with Multi-Region Contract Awards

Jan 21, 2026

Offshore drilling contractor Seadrill has secured multiple contract awards for its West Capella, West Elara and West Carina drilling rigs across Malaysia, Norway and Brazil.In Malaysia, the ultra-deepwater drillship West Capella secured a well-based contract with an undisclosed operator…

TotalEnergies, BluEnergies Agree Joint Study on Liberia Deepwater Play

Jan 16, 2026

TotalEnergies has entered into a joint study and application agreement with Canada’s BluEnergies to assess the hydrocarbon prospectivity of the Harper Basin fan play offshore Liberia.Under the agreement, BluEnergies and the Liberian upstream…

ExxonMobil Enlists Shearwater for 3D Seismic Survey in South America

Jan 15, 2026

Offshore seismic services firm Shearwater Geoservices has secured a contract for a large 3D seismic acquisition program for ExxonMobil Trinidad and Tobago Deepwater.The deepwater survey offshore Trinidad and Tobago will cover approximately 6…

TGS Embarks on OBN Multi-Client Survey in Gulf of America

Jan 15, 2026

Energy data and intelligence firm TGS has embarked on next-generation multi-client long-offset Ocean Bottom Node (OBN) acquisition campaign, dubbed APEX 1, in the Gulf of America.Node deployment for APEX 1 started in December 2025, and acquisition…

Archer Awarded Integrated Deepwater P&A Contract in the Gulf of America

Jan 14, 2026

Archer, in collaboration with SLB, has been awarded an integrated plug and abandonment (P&A) contract with Equinor for the Titan platform in the Gulf of America (GoA).The service offerings under the contract includes project management, well engineering…

Current News

TGS Embarks on Multi-Client 2D Survey off Angola

TGS Embarks on Multi-Client 2D

Orbital Marine Grows UK and Canada Tidal Energy Orderbook to 32MW

Orbital Marine Grows UK and Ca

SIT, Seatrium Launch Offshore and Marine Digital Learning Lab

SIT, Seatrium Launch Offshore

Elemental Energies Expands Subsurface Expertise with APT Buy

Elemental Energies Expands Sub

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