Shelf Drilling Secures Work Extensions in Thailand

International shallow water offshore drilling contractor Shelf Drilling Ltd. has secured contract extensions for the Shelf Drilling Chaophraya and Shelf Drilling Krathong jack-up rigs from Chevron Thailand Exploration and Production Ltd.

Both extensions are for two years, Shelf Drilling said in a media release. The combined contract value for the incremental firm term is approximately $197 million. The contract extensions will commence in the second half of 2025 in direct continuation of the rigs’ current commitments, the company said.

“These rigs were custom-built with unique offline capabilities for Chevron’s factory-style operations in the Gulf of Thailand", Greg O’Brien, Shelf Drilling CEO, commented.

Separately, Shelf Drilling recently received an Acknowledgement of Compliance (AoC) from the Norwegian Ocean Industry Authority (Havtil) for the Shelf Drilling Barsk jack-up rig. The unit has been cleared to commence operations in the coming weeks under a contract with Equinor.

“As we approach contract commencement in the coming weeks, our focus is to complete our customer’s final rig acceptance process and commence operations in a safe and efficient manner”, O’Brian said.

The rig initially secured work from Equinor in the Gudrun field in the Norwegian Continental Shelf. However, in June, Shelf Drilling received a notice from Havtil that its application for an AoC for the Shelf Drilling Barsk jack-up rig had not been accepted, which delayed its start of operations for Equinor.

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