Shelf Drilling has announced that it has secured a one-year extension for the Shelf Drilling Scepter jack-up rig for drilling operations offshore West African country Nigeria. The extension will commence in direct continuation of the rig’s current contract, extending the commitment until July 2026. The total added contract value is approximately USD 50 million.

Shelf Drilling has in early 2023 made a disclosure of the company’s award of a two-year contract for the Shelf Drilling Scepter for drilling operations offshore Nigeria. According to the information on Shelf’s Rigs manifest, Scepter Jack-up Rig is contracted by Chevron Nigeria.

The drilling contract which is valued for the firm period, including mobilization revenue, is approximately USD 118 million. The contract also included a one-year option, and the planned start-up of operations was commenced in May 2023.

The Shelf Drilling fleet consists of 35 jack-up rigs, of which Main Pass IV, Shelf Drilling Mentor, Shelf Drilling Achiever, Adriatic I, and Scepter jack-up rigs are currently operating in Nigeria’s offshore fields. Nigeria an Africa oil rich nation is currently in dare need to increase its crude oil production output to 3mbpd.

The country’s drastic drop in production to 1.1 million BOPD in 2022 owing to oil theft. However, through kinetic and non-kinetic interventions, oil theft has significantly reduced to 5,000 BOPD, leading to a steady production increase of 1.7 million BOPD.

The Nigerian government aims to increase production by 1 million BOPD by December 2026 under the Project 1 MMBOPD initiative, leveraging collaboration among operators, service providers, financiers, and host communities.