Equinor has delivered a termination notice for the drilling contract awarded to drillship VALARIS DS-11. The termination will take effect at the end of June. The company's total contract backlog of $2.5 billion as of May 2, 2022 included approximately $428 million related to this contract. 

As a result of the contract termination, Valaris will receive an early termination fee that is more than sufficient to cover expenses and commitments incurred by Valaris on the project.

President and Chief Executive Officer Anton Dibowitz said, 
“While we are disappointed that this contract has been terminated, the floater market and day rates have improved meaningfully since this contract was entered into in July 2021, and we expect there will be other attractive projects for a high specification drillship like VALARIS DS-11 with similar or earlier commencement dates.”

KeyFacts Energy Industry Directory: Valaris