Southeast Asia Offshore Activity Picks Up: Chevron Awards Velesto Rig Contract, ABL Appointed for PNG's First FSO

## Southeast Asia Offshore Activity Picks Up With Back-to-Back Contract Awards The Asia-Pacific offshore energy sector is showing renewed momentum this week, with two notable contract awards pointing to increased upstream investment across the region. ### Chevron Taps Velesto for Malaysian Drilling Campaign Malaysia's Velesto Drilling, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Velesto Energy, has secured a multimillion-dollar contract with Chevron for a jack-up drilling campaign off the coast of Malaysia, according to Offshore Energy. The contracted rig is a 2015-built premium jack-up unit, reflecting operator preference for modern, capable assets in the current market. Velesto Energy is one of Southeast Asia's leading jack-up rig owners, and the award reinforces the company's position as a preferred drilling partner for major international oil companies operating in Malaysian waters. The deal also underscores Chevron's continued commitment to its upstream portfolio in the region, where it holds significant acreage interests. The contract adds to a broader trend of tightening jack-up rig availability in Southeast Asia, as operators accelerate drilling programmes in response to sustained oil prices and regional energy demand. ### ABL Appointed for Papua New Guinea's First Offshore FSO In a separate but equally significant development, energy and marine consultancy ABL — part of Oslo-listed Aqualis group — has been appointed by Oil Search (PNG), a subsidiary of Australia's Santos, to provide installation management services for a floating storage and offloading (FSO) unit off Papua New Guinea, Offshore Energy reports. The project marks a historic milestone: the FSO will be Papua New Guinea's first offshore floating facility, representing a step-change in the country's offshore oil and gas infrastructure. ABL's scope covers marine and installation consultancy, a technically demanding role given the complexity of deploying a floating facility in a frontier offshore environment. Santos, which acquired Oil Search in 2022, has been actively developing its PNG upstream assets as part of a broader Pacific-focused growth strategy. The FSO installation will support production operations and is expected to enhance the efficiency of hydrocarbon offtake in the region. ### Regional Outlook Together, these awards highlight the Asia-Pacific offshore sector's resilience and the continued appetite among major operators to invest in both established and frontier markets. For service companies and rig owners, the pipeline of work in Southeast Asia and the broader Pacific region represents a meaningful source of revenue as the global offshore drilling market remains constructively positioned.