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New contract for VALARIS DS-10 in West Africa

Valaris was awarded a two-year contract offshore West Africa for the VALARIS DS-10 drillship that is expected to commence in late Q2 or Q3 2026. The total contract value for the firm term is $352 million and does not include the provision of additional services. The contract includes two unpriced options, each with a duration of one year.

BP makes oil discovery at Far South in deepwater US Gulf

BP announced an oil discovery at the Far South prospect in the deepwater US  Gulf of Mexico. The exploration well was drilled in Green Canyon Block 584, located in western Green Canyon approximately 120 miles off the coast of Louisiana in 4,092 ft of water. The well was drilled to a total depth of 23,830 ft. The Far South co-owners are BP (operator, 57.5%) and Chevron (42.5%).

 Both the initial well and a subsequent sidetrack encountered oil in high-quality Miocene reservoirs. Preliminary data supports a potentially commercial volume of hydrocarbons.

This discovery in the deepwater US Gulf underscores how BP stepping up investment in exploration and strengthen its upstream portfolio under the strategy reset announced in February 2025. The company said it expects to grow its global upstream production to 2.3 million to 2.5 million barrels of oil equivalent in 2030.

Equinor kicks off gas production from Halten East 

Equinor has started production at the Halten East development in the Norwegian Sea, two years following approval from Norwegian authorities.

Halten East is a tie-in development located in the Kristin-Åsgard area in the Norwegian Sea. Vår Energi and Petoro are partners. 

The development consists of six gas discoveries and flexibility for three other prospects utilizing existing infrastructure. The first phase consists of six wells from five discoveries. The second phase is planned in 2029 and includes a sidetrack and an additional three possible wells. 

Sinopec confirms large shale field discovery in China

Sinopec announced the discovery of over 140 million tons of proven reserves at the Jiyang shale oil national demonstration zone on the Shengli field in east China.  Technically recoverable reserves were estimated at 11.3599 million tons.

Leveraging advances in drilling equipment and horizontal well optimization, the average drilling cycle on the Shengli field has been reduced from 133 days to 29.5 days. Further, the drilling cycle for 6,000-m wells has reached 17.7 days.

Petrobras Colombia extends contract for Noble semi

Noble announced that its Noble Discoverer semisubmersible’s contract with Petrobras Colombia has been extended for 390 days. This extends the contract to approximately 14 August 2026. An unpriced option for an additional extension into Q3 2027 remains.

BP Trinidad and Tobago delivers 1st gas from Cypre   

BP Trinidad and Tobago (BPTT) confirmed its Cypre development has delivered its first gas. Cypre is one of BP’s 10 major projects expected to start up worldwide between 2025 and 2027, and the second major startup this year. Production from Cypre will make a significant contribution toward the 250,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) combined peak net production expected from these 10 projects.

Cypre is BPTT’s third subsea development. It will comprise seven wells tied back into BPTT’s existing Juniper platform. At peak, it is projected to deliver around 45,000 boed. The first phase of the development – four wells – was completed at the end of 2024. The second phase is expected to commence in H2 2025.

Admarine 511 jackup to move to Brazil for P&A campaign 

Constellation Oil Services was awarded a new contract with Petrobras, valued at approximately $170 million, for the deployment of the Admarine 511, a jackup owned by its commercial partner ADES. The rig will be used for a plug and abandonment campaign in shallow waters in the Sergipe, Alagoas, Ceará and Potiguar basins in Brazil.

Constellation will have up to 210 days to mobilize the Admarine 511 from its current location in Bahrain to Brazil, where it will remain under contract for a firm execution period of 1,143 days. The contract also includes an extension option of up to 472 days, upon mutual agreement between the parties. The rig is already undergoing class inspection and essential adjustments to meet Brazilian regulations.