Saipem wins $260 million Côte d’Ivoire drilling contract for Santorini
Eni Côte d’Ivoire Limited has awarded Saipem an offshore drilling contract valued at approximately $260 million. The Santorini drillship is scheduled to begin a long-term development drilling campaign offshore Côte d’Ivoire in early 2027. The agreement includes a firm extended program and potential optional periods and deployment in neighboring countries.
Confirmed: Saipem has secured an approximately $260 million offshore drilling contract from Eni Côte d’Ivoire Limited for the Santorini drillship. Operations are scheduled to start offshore Côte d’Ivoire in early 2027 under a firm extended development-drilling program. The award also provides for possible work in neighboring countries and additional optional periods, although Saipem did not disclose the firm duration or quantify the options. The company identified the agreement as a related-party transaction because Eni Côte d’Ivoire Limited is controlled by Eni S.p.A., while stating that it was an ordinary transaction conducted on market-equivalent or standard terms.
Analyst interpretation: The firm program improves forward employment visibility for Santorini from early 2027, while the geographic and period options could extend utilization beyond the initial campaign. Those options should not be treated as committed revenue or utilization until exercised. The award is also a material contracting indicator for West African development-drilling demand and Saipem's high-specification rig fleet. Extracted contractual and control relationships remain subject to analyst review and are not represented as database-verified.