Valaris seals jackup extensions in Saudi Arabia

Valaris has secured new bareboat charter agreements for several jackups with ARO Drilling, the New York-listed offshore driller’s joint venture with Saudi Aramco.

The 2003-built harsh environment jackup Valaris 250, the 2008-built modern jackup Valaris 116, and standard-duty modern jackups Valaris 143 and Valaris 146, built in 2010 and 2011 respectively, will each commence three-year extensions to their bareboat charters upon completion of their existing deals with ARO Drilling in December 2021.

In addition, ARO Drilling-owned rigs ARO 3003 and ARO 3004 have each been awarded five-year contract extensions with Aramco that will commence upon completion of their existing contracts in December 2021.

Valaris’ president and CEO, Anton Dibowitz, said: “ARO Drilling is a strategic asset for Valaris, providing a continued presence in an important offshore basin and long-term growth prospects via ARO’s twenty-rig newbuild program, with the first two newbuild jackups expected to be delivered in the second half of 2022. We look forward to continuing to work with our joint venture partner, Aramco, on growing and delivering value from ARO Drilling.”

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