Valaris Adds $220M to Offshore Drilling Backlog
October 7, 2026
Valaris has added about $220 million to its contract backlog through new offshore drilling contracts and extensions since its previous fleet update in August, including work in Suriname, Australia and the North Sea.
The offshore driller secured a two-well exploration contract with PETRONAS Suriname Exploration & Production for drillship VALARIS DS-18, following a previously announced Letter of Award. The campaign is expected to start in the fourth quarter of 2026 and run for up to seven months.
The $220 million backlog figure excludes lump-sum payments including mobilization fees and capital reimbursements.
Offshore Australia, jack-up VALARIS 107 received a contract expected to start after its current commitments and run for about 300 days. The contract represents about $50 million of backlog, excluding mobilization and demobilization compensation, and includes priced options.
Valaris also received a multi-well plug and abandonment contract in the Southern North Sea that can be performed by any suitable and available rig in its North Sea fleet. The 341-day program has a start window extending through December 2030 and represents an estimated $41.5 million of backlog, subject to annual cost escalation. It includes an option for an additional 19-day well.
Also, INEOS extended the contract for VALARIS 122 in the Danish North Sea by about 126 days from February 2027 at a day rate of $115,000. The agreement includes further options totaling an estimated 699 days for work in the UK and Danish North Sea.
A previously announced contract with Eni in the UK's East Irish Sea has also been amended, with about eight and a half months of the program originally assigned to VALARIS 72 moving to VALARIS 121.
The latter is expected to start the work in November 2026, while VALARIS 72 is now expected to finish its portion in March 2027 rather than September 2027. The change adds about $17 million to backlog.
In addition, Valaris extended the contract for VALARIS 248 for 31 days with Seatrium to provide accommodation support for an offshore wind project in the UK North Sea, adding about $2.5 million to backlog.
Separately, the company sold semisubmersible VALARIS MS-1 and jack-up VALARIS 111 for recycling in September.
