SLB lands four-year integrated drilling deal with Vår Energi on NCS

SLB will supply integrated drilling services to Vår Energi across two harsh-environment semi-submersibles on the Norwegian Continental Shelf under a contract that starts with a four-year term and could run to 2034.

The deal covers the Transocean Barents and Deepsea Bergen rigs, which will drill exploration and development wells for the Norwegian operator across the initial term. Annual extension options add up to four more years of work.

The agreement pulls technical capabilities, digital workflows and operational processes into a single framework spanning well planning and delivery. SLB will coordinate with Vår Energi and other appointed service and technology partners to simplify interfaces and streamline execution.

What did the companies say?

ND Maduemezia, SLB's president for Europe and Africa, framed the award around performance rather than technology alone.

"We value the trust Vår Energi has placed in us," he said. "Our focus now is on differentiated execution, combining technology, technical expertise, operating discipline and digital capabilities to deliver consistently high performance at scale."

Vår Energi's chief operating officer, Torger Rød, pointed to a change in working method as the driver.

"Creating greater value on the Norwegian Continental Shelf requires us to challenge traditional ways of working," Rød said. "By connecting planning and execution and bringing together expertise, technology and data, we can work across traditional boundaries to deliver wells faster, more predictably and with greater value."

In plain terms, both sides are betting that one integrated supplier beats a stack of separate contracts for speed and predictability.

Which rigs are covered?

The Transocean Barents is an Aker H-6e design semi-submersible built at Aker Kvaerner Stord and delivered in 2009. Key specifications:

• Water depth capability up to 3,048 m; drilling depth to 9,144 m
• 140-person accommodation
• 90 m long by 70 m wide, operating displacement of 64,500 mt
• DNV-classed as a column-stabilised drilling platform, flagged in the Marshall Islands

The Deepsea Bergen, delivered in 2019 and flagged in Norway, brings Arctic credentials to the pairing. Its profile:

• Moss CS60E design, constructed by HHI in South Korea
• Suited for harsh Arctic conditions, with winterisation and NOx-reducing SCR power units
• Water depth capability up to 3,000 m, 7,500 mt loading capability in all conditions
• 180-person accommodation and a full mooring spread
• DNV classed, with winter operations already performed in the Barents Sea

One rig is built for deep water; the other is built for cold water. Together they cover both ends of the NCS challenge.

How does this extend an existing relationship?

The award broadens SLB's scope in Vår Energi's offshore activities by adding integrated drilling services to a long-standing collaboration. That collaboration already includes digital well and field development planning plus subsea production systems delivered through SLB's OneSubsea joint venture.

The Vår Energi award follows another long-horizon SLB contract signed last month: a 15-year agreement with TotalEnergies covering SLB's DrillPlan coherent well planning and engineering solutions.

SLB is clearly stacking up decade-scale service agreements with major operators, and the NCS is a big part of that push.

The watch item here is execution: whether integrated planning and delivery actually delivers the faster, more predictable wells that Rød is promising on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.