Aramco suspends two more Valaris jackups

Valaris has seen two more of its jackup rigs suspended in Saudi Arabia, after Aramco’s initial move to cut more than 20 units across eight contractors earlier this year.

The New York-listed offshore driller said in its fleet update it had received suspension notices in late July for Valaris 147 and Valaris 148, which are under bareboat charter to its Saudi joint venture ARO Drilling.

The first unit, the Valaris 143 got suspended in April when the Middle Eastern operator slashed rig capacity by a total 22 jackups.

Prior to the suspension notice the Valaris 147 and Valaris 148 had contracts running until December 2025 and February 2026, respectively worth in aggregate about $35m.

Valaris said it was in talks with Aramco regarding whether other leased rigs or ARO-owned rigs could be affected as well as when the suspensions will go into force.

Aramco’s first round of suspensions saw the majority of the rigs dropped for up to one year each. The contracts will however be extended for a period equal to the suspension for each rig and the drillers are also free to find work for these units in other markets, some of which have already done so.