Valaris secures $498 million drillship contract from Equinor for Raia project offshore Brazil

(WO) – Valaris Limited has been awarded a multi-year contract with Equinor Energy do Brasil Ltda., a subsidiary of Equinor ASA (“Equinor”), for drillship VALARIS DS-17. The contract relates to work offshore Brazil on Project Raia. Equinor’s project partners are Repsol Sinpoec Brazil (35%) and Petrobras (30%).

The estimated total contract value is approximately $498 million, inclusive of MPD, additional services and fees for mobilization and minor rig upgrades. The contract has an estimated total duration of 852 days.

The contract includes a 672-day drilling program that is expected to commence in the first half of 2026. The rig will be on standby for an estimated duration of 180 days between the end of the rig’s current program and the beginning of the operating period.

President and Chief Executive Officer Anton Dibowitz said, “This contract award is a testament to the quality of our crews and the collaborative nature of our relationship with Equinor. We are grateful to Equinor for the investments they have made in leading-edge safety and automation technology on VALARIS DS-17 and the trust they have placed in us to execute their development programs offshore Brazil. In addition, this contract further underscores our track record of delivering high-performing assets following a reactivation.”

Dibowitz added, “We continue to execute our commercial strategy by securing new contracts at higher day rates and consistently building our backlog as evidenced by this multi-year drillship contract. We see strong customer demand for work that is expected to commence in 2025 and 2026 that will continue to support our anticipated earnings and cash flow growth over the next few years.”