Italy’s Saipem has been awarded new offshore and onshore drilling contracts worth approximately $500 million.

Fellow Italian Eni has signed a two-year extension to Saipem’s contract for the charter of the jackup rig Perro Negro 8, which is drilling offshore Italy in the Adriatic Sea. The contract will begin in November this year. Perro Negro 8 is capable of operating in water depths of up to 107 m (350 ft).

In Nigeria, Saipem has also won a contract for an extension of the charter for the semisubmersible rig Scarabeo 3 by African-focused independent Addax Petroleum, until February 2014.

Scarabeo 3 is a second generation semisubmersible drilling rig capable of operating in water depths of up to 457 m (1,500 ft).

Saipem has also signed an 18-month extension of its contract with NDC for the charter of the jackup rig Perro Negro 2, which is drilling offshore Abu Dhabi. The extension of the contract starts second quarter 2012. Perro Negro 2 is capable of operating in water depths of up to 91 m (300 ft).

In addition, in further offshore drilling-related deals Saipem has obtained an increase in rates of existing contracts for the charter of Perro Negro 6 and Saipem 10000, respectively, in Angola and Mozambique.

In onshore drilling, meanwhile, Saipem was awarded contracts by several clients for 14 rigs in South America, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan and Italy. The contracts, of which seven are new acquisitions and seven are extensions, range in length from two months to two years, and start in different periods of 2012.