Brazilian drilling contractor Foresea has secured a new charter agreement with state-controlled oil company Petrobras for one of its drillships to operate in the country’s Mero pre-salt field.
Upstream reported last year that Petrobras was tendering for one high-specification rig to carry out development drilling at Mero in the prolific Santos basin pre-salt province.
Petrobras was seeking a rig specific for Mero to drill wells as part of a second development wave in the field.
Foresea said that following the competitive bidding process, it won a contract worth $465 million to supply the drillship ODN I to Petrobras.
The 1443-day contract is expected to commence in early 2027. The deal includes the mobilisation fee and an early termination option after 1078 days.
Foresea added the new ODN I contract also features an unpriced extension option of 382 days.
The ODN I is currently on hire with Petrobras until October 2026 drilling development wells in the Marlim field in the Campos basin.
The new charter is due to begin following the end of the current contract and certain preparatory activities, added Foresea.
Besides the ODN I, Foresea has another four rigs in operation, all under long-term contracts with Petrobras in Brazil, including the semi-submersible unit Norbe VI and the drillships ODN II, Norbe VIII and Norbe IX.
Petrobras is currently producing about 667,000 barrels per day of oil and 44.4 million cubic metres per day of natural gas in Mero via four large floating production storage and offloading vessels — Guanabara, Sepetiba, Marechal Duque de Caxias and Alexandre de Gusmao.
The oil company is also producing in Mero via the Pioneiro de Libra FPSO, but the unit is considered an early production system and not a vessel on a commercial scale.
Petrobras has plans to contract another FPSO for deployment at Mero, with the Mero Extension project envisioning first oil after 2031.
Source: upstreamonline.com