Drillship Atlantic Zonda begins its first drilling campaign with Petrobras job

A newbuild ultra-deepwater drillship, the Atlantic Zonda, has started its inaugural offshore drilling assignment in Brazilian waters with Petrobras.

The Atlantic Zonda is managed by Ventura Offshore Midco, a subsidiary of the Brazilian deepwater offshore drilling contractor Ventura Offshore.

Eldorado Drilling, an offshore drilling player backed by a group of Norwegian investors, bought the Zonda, formerly known as the Pacific Zonda, from Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) in 2023, for delivery the following year.

The seventh-generation newbuild ultra-deepwater drillship embarked on a voyage from SHI to the Seatrium shipyard in Singapore to undergo comprehensive upgrades to be equipped with an advanced technological drilling package in preparation for drilling operations in Brazil.

The Atlantic Zonda, managed by Ventura Offshore through marketing and operating agreements with the rig owner, Eldorado Drilling, has now begun operations with Petrobras under a three-year contract, which comes with an option for an additional three years.

Featuring the Samsung 96K design, the Atlantic Zonda drillship is said to be among the world’s most capable seventh-generation dual-activity rigs capable of drilling operations in water depths of 12,000 feet (around 3,658 meters).

The rig, which has six thrusters with a capacity of 4,500 KW each and a total hook load of 1,250 t with a variable deck load of 22,000 mt, is equipped with managed pressure drilling capability.

The start of operations comes after Petrobras upped its exploration capex ante to develop new frontiers and expand production, with $73.5 billion earmarked up to and including 2028. The Brazilian state-owned energy company also revealed plans for a large-scale tender for subsea trees in July 2024.

Petrobras plans to have 14 additional FPSOs by 2028 and intends to drill 50 new wells by the end of 2028. Therefore, 25 new wells will be drilled in southeast basins, 16 in the Equatorial Margin, and nine in other countries.