Saipem has two new offshore drilling jobs from Eni, and both put a deepwater rig to work in a different country. The drillship Saipem 10000 will drill for Eni Cyprus, and the semisubmersible Scarabeo 9 will drill for Eni Ghana. For Saipem, the awards add visibility on how busy its fleet will be in 2026 and 2027.
The Cyprus job: Saipem 10000
Eni Cyprus awarded the drilling work in the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Republic of Cyprus. The Saipem 10000 will perform it, with operations expected to begin between November 2026 and January 2027.
The Saipem 10000 is a fifth-generation ultra-deepwater drillship. It carries a DP class 3 dynamic positioning system and is rated for water depths up to 3,048 m and drilling depths up to 9,144 m.
The Ghana job: Scarabeo 9
Eni Ghana awarded the second contract, which has the Scarabeo 9 drilling offshore Ghana. The Scarabeo 9 is a sixth-generation ultra-deepwater semisubmersible of Frigstad D90 design. It also has DP class 3 and is rated for water depths up to 3,600 m. The rig was delivered in 2011.
The two rigs side by side
| Saipem 10000 | Scarabeo 9 | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Drillship, fifth generation | Semisubmersible, sixth generation |
| Client | Eni Cyprus | Eni Ghana |
| Location | Cyprus Exclusive Economic Zone | Offshore Ghana |
| Dynamic positioning | DP class 3 | DP class 3 |
| Rated water depth | 3,048 m | 3,600 m |
Our read: this is fleet-utilization news. One drillship and one semisubmersible go to two different Eni subsidiaries, and the only start window given is the Cyprus one, November 2026 to January 2027.
