KUALA LUMPUR (March 22): Velesto Energy Bhd, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Velesto Drilling Sdn Bhd (VDSB), has secured a two-year contract extension for the provision of three jack-up rigs to Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd, for a total contract value of US$265 million (about RM1.26 billion). 

In a filing with Bursa, the group announced that the notice of assignment for the jack-up rigs, being Naga 2, Naga 4 and Naga 6, began on Feb 7, 2024 and will continue until Feb 6, 2026, inclusive of the continuation from the current drilling campaign, as per their previous notices of assignment dated Jan 11, 2024, March 7, 2023 and June 2, 2023. 

Individually, the contract value is worth US$73.04 million for Naga 2, US$94.88 million for Naga 4 and US$97.08 million for Naga 6. 

Velesto said VDSB received a copy of the letter of contract extension from Petronas Carigali and its notices of assignment for all three rigs on Feb 2. 

“The contract's extension highlights strong utilisation of Velesto Drilling’s rigs for 2024,” said the group. 

“It also indicates the potential for robust financial performance in the coming years, with an order book extending to 2025 and 2026. 

“The extension also underscores our unwavering commitment to safety and service excellence, which the group consistently delivers across all projects,” it added.

Shares of Velesto closed half sen or 1.8% higher at 28.5 sen on Friday, giving it a market capitalisation of RM2.34 billion.