TotalEnergies and Vantage Drilling International have reached a legally binding agreement to establish a joint venture in which both parties will own Vantage’s Tungsten Explorer drillship.
According to the terms of the arrangement, TotalEnergies will pay $199 million for a 75 per cent stake in the joint venture to control the rig, while Vantage will own the other 25 per cent.
The joint venture will appoint Vantage to operate the Tungsten Explorer for 10 years.
TotalEnergies has already utilised the Tungsten Explorer for exploration and development activities in Namibia, Cyprus and Congo.
Vantage Drilling International CEO Ihab Toma said: “This is a transformative event for the company.
“The proceeds from the sale of the Tungsten Explorer will completely deleverage our balance sheet while putting in place a meaningful, long-term revenue stream leveraging our strong management expertise.”
The Tungsten Explorer drillship was built in 2013 and is designed for deep offshore drilling.
With a power capacity of 42MW and a thrust capacity of 33MW, the rig can operate in a wide range of meteorological conditions and has a proven track record of safe drilling operations worldwide.
Currently operating in Namibia on the Mangetti-1X well, the Tungsten Explorer utilises Excellium additives — a premium fuel developed by TotalEnergies to optimise consumption and reduce emissions.
