DEPARTMENTS • DRILLING AHEAD
Technical innovations, sensible
policies vital to energy security
BY LINDA HSIEH, EDITOR & PUBLISHER
IADC DRILLING
CASPIAN 2023
CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION
7-8 FEBRUARY 2023
FOUR SEASONS HOTEL
BAKU, AZERBAIJAN
www.iadc.org/event/ iadc-drilling-caspian-2023
For more information,
contact IADC by phone at
+31.24.675.2252 or via
email at europe@iadc.org
6 As we head into the winter season, it’s
heartening to see to the world refocusing
on the critical issue of energy security. For
a long time, it seemed that our industry
had done such a good job of finding and
producing oil and gas that the world was
taking energy for granted.

But we know that affordable and reliable
energy is not a given.

Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Group CEO
of ADNOC , recently said at the Energy
Intelligence Forum in London that “all
progress starts and ends with energy
security.” He couldn’t be more right.

Energy security is essential for social,
economic and climate progress, he said,
adding that market sentiment does not
reflect the real underlying fundamen-
tals, tight spare capacity and long-term
demand growth. Governments should not
be focusing their policies on ending the
current energy system before a new one is
firmly in place .

“Yes, we must all commit to mitigating
the impact of global energy supplies, but
let’s keep our focus on capturing carbon,
not canceling production. Let’s hold back
emissions, not progress,” Dr Al Jaber said.

He further urged the world to make good
use of the technical expertise within the
oil and gas industry. “For the energy tran-
sition to succeed, the energy professionals
need to be in the room, as equal partners
alongside all other stakeholders.”
Dreaming big on technology
Within the drilling industry, companies
are stepping up to meet calls for increased
production, even as we’re dealing with con-
tinued cost challenges, staffing shortages
and supply chain bottlenecks . Technology
is and will continue to be a key enabler. For
example, compared with 20-30 years ago,
data has become much more easily acces-
sible, allowing engineers to spend more
of their time on data interpretation and
decision making. “Just like we did with
unconventionals, we think we can create
another 10x in the subsurface, we can have
10x higher NPV, be 10x more productive, if
we focus on it,” Hess CTO Robert Fast said
during a panel session at the 2022 SPE
Annual Technical Conference & Exhibition
on 4 October in Houston. When it comes
to making technical advances, he said,
“you’ve got to dream big .”
Speaking on the same panel, Daniel
Kalms, Executive VP Technical Services
and CTO at Woodside Energy, urged com-
panies to “be disruptive” in their technol-
ogy development and deployment. “It’s too
easy in our industry to just accept every-
thing within our own little echo chamber,”
he said. Interacting externally with tech
startups, for example, can help our indus-
try to adopt agile innovation. “If we don’t
get disrupted and challenged , we’ll just be
going in a relatively modest pace down a
set path.”
Sensible energy policies
While technology can go a long way
in helping our industry to provide ener-
gy to the world, we still need govern-
ments to implement sensible policies . API
and IOGP, for example, recently commis-
sioned a study highlighting the potential
for American LNG to strengthen Europe’s
energy security .

“The EU needs to secure alternative
supplies now if it wants to fully phase
out Russian gas imports by 2027,” said
Francois-Regis Mouton, IOGP’s Regional
Director for Europe. This means that both
US LNG export capacity and the EU’s
import capacity will need to be expanded
in the coming years , based on decisions
that policymakers make today.

The renewed attention on energy secu-
rity we’re seeing now should not fade
away without making an impact on pub-
lic policy. It’s an opportune moment for
policymakers to pave a sustainable path
that will lead to dependable and affordable
energy in the decades to come. DC
Linda Hsieh can be reached at linda.hsieh@
iadc.org. NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2022 • DRILLING CONTRACTOR




DRILLING & COMPLETION NEWS • DEPARTMENTS
Valaris announces multiple contracts, extensions in Mexico, UK North Sea, Australia
Valaris recently announced several
■ A four-well contract extension with contract is expected to commence in Q1/Q2
contract awards:
■ A three-well contract with Eni Mexico
offshore Mexico for the VALARIS DPS-5
semisubmersible. The contract is expected
to commence in Q4 2022 and has an esti-
mated duration of 240 days. The dayrate is
$313,500, plus a mobilization fee of approx-
imately $1.2 million.

Shell in the UK North Sea for the VALARIS
122, a heavy-duty harsh-environment
jackup . The extension will be in direct
continuation of the existing program and
has a value of over $60 million.

■ A one-well contract with an undis-
closed operator offshore Australia for the
VALARIS 107, a heavy-duty jackup . The
ADNOC Drilling wins new contracts covering 14 jackups
In October, ADNOC Offshore award-
ed two new jackup contracts to ADNOC
Drilling . One was a contract worth $1.53
billion covering the provision of 12 jack-
up s and two island rigs and associated
integrated drilling services . The second
contract, worth $980 million, was for two
jackup s and associated manpower and
equipment .

These contracts bring the total value of
awards from ADNOC Offshore to ADNOC
Drilling in 2022 to $5.95 billion . Two
other awards had been given out in
August worth $3.43 billion to hire eight
jackup s. Over 80% of the award value will
flow back into the UAE’s economy under
ADNOC’s In-Country Value Program.

ADNOC aims to expand production
capacity to 5 million bbl/day by 2030 and
enable gas self-sufficiency for the UAE .

ADNOC Drilling’s rig fl eet includes
28 jackups. The company has been
awarded contracts from ADNOC Off-
shore this year covering 20 jackups
and two island rigs.

New discovery for APA at Baja-1 offshore Suriname
APA Corp has announced an oil dis-
covery offshore Suriname at Baja-1 in
Block 53 . Baja-1 was drilled to a depth of
5,290 m (17,356 f t) and encountered 34
m (112 f t) of net oil pay in a single inter-
val within the Campanian. Evaluation of
open-hole well logs, cores and reservoir
fluids is ongoing.

APA recently received regulatory
approval regarding an amendment to the
Block 53 Production Sharing Contract
(PSC), which provides options to extend
the exploration period of the PSC by up
to four years .

APA is operator and holds a 45% work-
ing interest in Block 53, with Petronas
holding a 30% working interest and
CEPSA holding a 25% working interest.

Baja-1 was drilled using the Noble Gerry
de Souza in water depths of approxi-
mately 1,140 m (3,740 f t). The drillship
will mobilize to Block 58 following the
completion of current operations, where
it will drill the Awari exploration pros-
pect, approximately 27 k m north of the
Maka Central discovery.

APA also announced that operations
have concluded on the Dikkop explora-
tion well in Block 58. The well encoun-
tered water-bearing sandstones in the
targeted interval and has been plugged
and abandoned.

TotalEnergies is the operator with a
50% working interest, and APA holds the
remaining 50% working interest. The
Maersk Valiant drillship will be moving
to the Sapakara field to drill a second
appraisal well at Sapakara South, where
the joint venture conducted a successful
flow test late last year.

2023 with a dayrate of $120,000 .

■ A one-well option exercised by DNO in
the UK North Sea for the VALARIS 247,
a heavy-duty, ultra-harsh-environment
jackup . The one-well option has an esti-
mated duration of 45 days and will be in
direct continuation of the existing firm
program. KCA Deutag announces
$112 million in contracts
KCA Deutag has secured contract
awards, extensions and options worth
around $112 million. The contracts are
primarily related to land rigs in Saudi
Arabia and Oman and were announced as
work continued to close out the acquisi-
tion of Saipem’s land rig business .

In Saudi Arabia, the company has been
awarded multiple one-year extensions
worth a total of $35 million. In Oman,
a one-year contract with a new client,
which includes a further one-year option,
in addition to contract extensions and
options with existing clients on multiple
rigs, have delivered an additional $70.5
million. In Europe, KCA Deutag has been award-
ed almost $6 million in new contracts in
Germany and the Netherlands.

Blackford Dolphin awarded
new work offshore Nigeria
Dolphin Drilling has secured a 12-month
contract with Nigeria-based General
Hydrocarbons Ltd (GHL) at a value of $96
million. The contract for the Blackford
Dolphin rig will commence during Q4
of this year. The rig recently completed
work in the Gulf of Mexico for PEMEX and
will mobilize to Las Palmas for its spe-
cial periodic survey prior to commencing
operations in Nigeria.

“We are proud to announce the final
award of the Blackford Dolphin contract,
proving our position in the niche moored
semisubmersible market,” said Bjørnar
Iversen, C EO at Dolphin Drilling . The com-
pany owns a fleet of three fourth- and
fifth-generation drilling rigs: the Borgland
Dolphin, Blackford Dolphin and Bideford
Dolphin. DRILLING CONTRACTOR • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2022
7