Odfjell Drilling (OSL: ODL) has been given a pre-Christmas boost after winning a two year contract extension from Norway’s Aker BP (OSL: AKBRP) for its Deepsea Nordkapp rig.
The Aberdeen-based firm said the extended contract will begin at the start of 2025 and could be worth up to $325 million (£250m).
The semi-submersible rig has been contracted to Aker BP since its delivery in 2019.
In 2025 the contract value will be worth between $124m and $146m, based on a floor and ceiling day rate, while the contract value for 2026 is approximately $179m.
Aker BP will also pay performance and fuel savings incentive bonuses in addition to the market based day rates.
Odfjell Drilling chief executive officer Kjetil Gjersdal said the company was pleased to extend its contract with Aker BP.
“Together with our Alliance model and its focus on collaboration and innovation, we foresee Odfjell Drilling and Aker BP continuing to set new performance benchmarks and provide safe and efficient operations with the Deepsea Nordkapp for many years to come,” Mr Gersdal said.
“With this extension, our owned fleet is further secured with firm backlog from 2024 and beyond at increasing day rates.
“In addition, the rolling optionality mechanism will continue to give opportunity to further extend this backlog at market rates.”
‘Alliance’ rigs and wells agreement
The contract extension follows the announcement in January this year that Aker BP had signed a five-year ‘alliance’ agreement with three offshore drillers.
The agreements for rigs and wells with Noble Corporation, Odfjell Drilling and Halliburton is part of the company’s plans for a significant build out of new projects and drilling across Norwegian waters.
Under the deal Aker BP secured commitments for the Noble Integrator and Noble Invincible jack-ups.
Meanwhile Odfjell’s Deepsea Stavanger will join the Aker BP rig fleet in 2025 under a five-year contract.