DEPARTMENTS • DRILLING & COMPLETION NEWS
Valaris wins new contracts, extensions
for multiple rigs, retires VALARIS 67
Hess takes FID to develop Yellowtail in
Guyana, plans to start production in 2025
Valaris recently announced new contracts and contract
extensions with associated contract backlog of $181 million :
• Two-year contract extensions with BP in the US Gulf of
Mexico for managed rigs Mad Dog and Thunder Horse. The
contract extensions were effective on 27 January.

• One-well contract extension with TotalEnergies EP Brazil
for drillship VALARIS DS-15. The option well is in direct con-
tinuation of the current firm program and has an estimated
duration of 100 days.

• A three-year contract with Saudi Aramco for ARO Drilling’s
standard-duty modern jackup VALARIS 140. This contract
relates to the previously disclosed three-year bareboat char-
ter agreement between Valaris and ARO Drilling .

• The previously disclosed contract awarded to VALARIS
DS-11 for an eight-well contract for a deepwater project in
the US Gulf of Mexico has been novated from TotalEnergies
to Equinor. There are no material changes to the contract .

• VALARIS 67 has been sold and retired from the offshore
drilling fleet.

Hess has made a final investment decision to proceed with
development of Yellowtail offshore Guyana after receiving
government and regulatory approvals. Yellowtail, the fourth oil
development and the largest on the Stabroek Block, is expected
to produce approximately 250,000 gross bbl/day of oil starting
in 2025.

Yellowtail will utilize the ONE GUYANA FPSO, which will
develop an estimated resource base of approximately 925 million
barrels of oil. Six drill centers are planned, with up to 26 produc-
tion wells and 25 injection wells.

Hess’ net share of development costs, excluding pre-sanction
costs and FPSO purchase cost, is forecast to be approximately
$2.3 billion, of which approximately $210 million is expected in
2022, $430 million in 2023, $585 million in 2024, $390 million in
2025 and $295 million in 2026.

Santos makes significant oil find with
Pavo-1 exploration well offshore Australia
Santos announced the Pavo-1 exploration well has con-
firmed a significant oil discovery 46 km east of the Dorado
field in the Bedout Sub-basin, offshore Western Australia.

The well was drilled on the northern culmination of the
greater Pavo structure and encountered a 60-m gross hydro-
carbon column in the primary Caley member reservoir target.

Wireline data has confirmed 46 m of net oil pay, with an oil-
water contact intersected at 3,004-m measured depth (MD).

Wireline logging operations to collect pressure, sample and
rock data across the target Caley reservoir have been com-
pleted. A 2C contingent resource for the northern culmination
is assessed at 43 million barrels of oil gross .

“The Pavo-1 success is expected to support a potential low-
cost tie-back to the first phase of the proposed Dorado develop-
ment, with Pavo north having an estimated breakeven cost of
less than $10/bbl, and future gas production from the Bedout
basin providing a source of supply into our existing domestic
gas infrastructure in Western Australia,” said Kevin Gallagher,
Santos Managing Director and CEO.

Murphy starts production from Khaleesi,
Mormont, Samurai in deepwater GOM
Murphy Oil has achieved first oil from the Khaleesi,
Mormont and Samurai field development project in the deep-
water Gulf of Mexico . Production is flowing through the
Murphy-operated King’s Quay floating production system. The
Khaleesi/Mormont fields are located in Green Canyon blocks
389 and 478, respectively, and the Samurai field is located in
Green Canyon Block 432. Completions operations are ongoing
for the remaining five wells in the seven-well project.

8 Duva producer wells are tied back to the Gjøa semisubmersible
platform, and the gas is then transported to the UK.

Neptune will double gas production from
Duva field for at least next 4-8 months
To help meet gas demand in Europe, Neptune Energy and
its partners will double gas production from the Duva field in
the Norwegian sector of the North Sea by 6,500 bbl/day of oil
equivalent (BOEPD) . Duva is a subsea installation with three oil
producers and one gas producer, tied back to the Gjøa semisub-
mersible platform. The gas is transported by pipeline to the UK’s
St Fergus gas terminal.

Duva’s overall production currently stands at 30,000 BOEPD,
of which 6,500 BOEPD is natural gas. Under the newly agreed
measures, daily gas production will double to 13,000 BOEPD for
an initial period of four to eight months. The increase in produc-
tion is expected to supply enough energy to heat an additional
350,000 homes per day in the UK, according to Neptune.

M AY/J U N E 202 2 • D R I L L I N G C O N T R AC T O R