Equinor terminates drilling contract awarded to VALARIS DS-11 drillship

Valaris Limited said that Equinor has issued a termination notice for the drilling contract awarded to the VALARIS DS-11 drillship.

The US-based offshore drilling contractor said that the termination will become effective at the end of this month.

Valaris said that as of 2 May 2022, its total contract backlog of $2.5 billion included nearly $428 million pertaining to the contract from Equinor.

Owing to the termination of the contract, Valaris will be paid an early termination fee that is said to be more than enough to cover expenses and commitments incurred by the company on the drilling project.

Equinor terminates drilling contract awarded to VALARIS DS-11 drillship. Photo courtesy of Øivind Haug/Equinor

Anton Dibowitz — Valaris president and CEO said: “While we are disappointed that this contract has been terminated, the floater market and day rates have improved meaningfully since this contract was entered into in July 2021, and we expect there will be other attractive projects for a high specification drillship like VALARIS DS-11 with similar or earlier commencement dates.”