Valaris to recall drillship after stint at Equinor

London-headquartered rig contractor Valaris has received a notice to terminate the drilling contract for its drillship Valaris D-11, removing around $428mn from its backlog, the company said June 1.

The Valaris D-11 had been performing deepwater drilling work on an eight-well contract in the US Gulf of Mexico, under a deal signed with TotalEnergies in July 2021. At some point during the drilling term, TotalEnergies requested the rig contract be transferred to Equinor instead.

Following the cancellation, Valaris will receive an early termination fee, which it says is "more than sufficient" to cover its expenses and commitments on the project.

Anton Dibowitz, president and CEO, said: "While we are disappointed that this contract has been terminated, the floater market and day rates have improved meaningfully since this contract was entered into in July 2021, and we expect there will be other attractive projects for a high specification drillship like Valaris DS-11 with similar or earlier commencement dates.”