Lundin Granted North Sea Drilling Permit
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has granted Lundin Norway AS a drilling permit for a wildcat well in the North Sea.The NPD said on Tuesday that the wildcat well, designated 16/1-31 S, would be drilled from the Leiv Eiriksson drilling rig after concluding the drilling of wildcat well 7121/1-2 S in the Barents Sea.The well will be drilled about 4 kilometers northeast of the Edvard Grieg facility in the central North Sea using the Ocean Rig Leiv Eiriksson semisubmersible drilling…
Lundin to Drill Barents Sea Well
Europe's independent oil and gas exploration and production company Lundin Norway will drill and test a new exploration well in the Barents Sea, following approval by the Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA)."Lundin is the operator for production licence 767. We have now given the company consent for exploration drilling and testing of well 7121/1-2 S," said a statement from the Norwegian governmental supervisory authority.The well is in the Barents Sea, in the centre of Troms I, approx. 121 kilometres from land (Bondøya north of Sørøya).
Offshore Drillers Eye Recovery by 2020
Battered oil and gas drilling companies are finally seeing piecemeal signs that the prices they charge for offshore rigs are bottoming out with Brent crude selling for more than $80 a barrel and some are forecasting a full turn in the market by 2020.At the depths of a global slide that took oil below $27 a barrel in early 2016, daily rates for leasing the most sophisticated floating drilling rigs had fallen to just $180,000 from $500,000 a day, as producer returns from North Sea, Latin America and Canadian drilling evaporated.Transocean Ltd…
Transocean Eyes Improved Day Rates, Contract in Late 2019
Offshore driller Transocean expects rates to lease drilling rigs to improve and contracting activity to pick up in late 2019, an outlook that drove its decision for the recently announced $2.7 billion purchase of rival Ocean Rig, Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Thigpen said on Wednesday.The company expects the market for offshore drilling vessels to move back into balance in the coming years, as some 60 units are going to be un-contracted and retire, he said.Reporting by Liz Hampton
Transocean to Buy Ocean Rig in $2.7 Bln Deal
Offshore oil driller Transocean Ltd said on Tuesday it would buy peer Ocean Rig UDW Inc in a $2.7 billion cash-and-stock deal, its second major acquisition this year as the company bets on a recovery in the offshore sector.The acquisition signals new optimism for offshore drillers, which were hit hard by the steep plunge in oil prices from 2014. Offshore projects, which are more costly than onshore work and take years to develop, became less attractive after oil prices fell to below $30 a barrel in 2016.Global crude prices have since recovered to above $70…
Transocean to Buy Ocean Rig in $2.7 bln Deal
Drilling rig contractor Transocean Ltd said on Tuesday it would acquire peer Ocean Rig UDW Inc in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $2.7 billion, including debt.The deal will help Switzerland-based Transocean enhance its fleet of ultra-deepwater and harsh environment floating rigs."The combination of constructive and stable oil prices over the last several quarters, streamlined offshore project costs, and undeniable reserve replacement challenges has driven a material increase in offshore contracting activity," said Transocean Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Thigpen.Transocean will pay 1.6128 ne
ABS Issues First MPD-rReady Notation
ABS announced it has awarded the world’s first Managed Pressure Drilling (MPD) – Ready Notation to Ocean Rig for the ABS-classed Corcovado and Mykonos deep water drillships.The ABS MPD-Ready notation demonstrates drilling units have the necessary provisions in place to integrate equipment needed for MPD operations.“Offshore operations in deeper water continue to lead back to a need for reliable and cost-effective technologies” said ABS Executive Vice President – Global Offshore, Kenneth Richardson.
US Court Approves Seadrill's Bankruptcy Exit Plan
A U.S. judge said on Tuesday he would approve Seadrill Ltd's plan to exit its Chapter 11 bankruptcy, in which the global offshore oil and gas drilling company would shed billions of dollars of debt and raise $1 billion in new investment. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David Jones in Houston overruled two minor objections to the reorganization plan during a 90-minute hearing. The plan extends maturities on more than $5 billion of bank loans and converts about $2.3 billion in bond debt into equity in a reorganized Seadrill.
Pankaj Khanna Appointed As CEO of Ocean Rig
Pankaj Khanna has been appointed as President and Chief Executive Officer of Ocean Rig UDW, a global provider of offshore deepwater drilling services, effective January 1, 2018. Khanna is 47 years old with 29 years of varied experience in the maritime & offshore industry. He last served as Chief Executive Officer of Pioneer Marine Inc, a drybulk company that he founded in 2013. Prior to his position at Pioneer Marine Inc Khanna served as Chief Marketing Officer at Ocean Rig UDW Inc. from January 1, 2012 to October 2, 2012. Mr. Khanna served as the Chief Operating Officer of DryShips, Inc.
Offshore Oil Service Firms Dominate Energy Bankruptcies
Offshore oil drilling and service companies, hurt by the energy industry's shift to lower-cost shale and away from deepwater projects, are dominating the year's energy bankruptcies in North America, according to law firm Haynes and Boone. There were fewer oilfield service companies seeking protection this year than last but those that did have had larger debts. Through October, 44 oilfield services companies filed for bankruptcy in the United States and Canada owing creditors $24.8 billion, compared with 72 companies and $13.48 billion for all of 2016.
Lundin Extends Contract for Ocean Rig
Ocean Rig UDW, contractor of offshore deepwater drilling services, has announced that Lundin Norway AS, has declared their third option to extend the existing contract of the Leiv Eiriksson. In addition, Ocean Rig has granted Lundin 2 additional options to drill further wells in the future. As a result of these developments, the rig now has firm employment until at least the end of September of 2017 and should Lundin exercise its additional seven one-well options, currently un-declared, the rig could be employed until the first quarter of 2019.
Ocean RIG Files for Bankruptcy Protection in US
Rig contractor Ocean RIG UDW Inc filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in a U.S. court amid a deep and prolonged downturn in the industry. Shares of the company plunged 36.4 percent to 46 cents in early trading on Tuesday. The Cyprus-based company, which had $3.25 billion in debt as of Dec. 31, filed for bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court for Southern District of New York on Monday. Under U.S. bankruptcy laws, Chapter 15 grants a foreign company protection from creditors looking to seize its assets in the country.
Cairn Success in offshore Senegal continues
Cairn announced the results of the SNE-4 appraisal well offshore Senegal where operations have been safely and successfully completed following drilling, coring and logging. The well is now being plugged and abandoned. The SNE-4 well was appraising the eastern extent of the SNE field discovered in 2014 and aiming to confirm the nature of the upper reservoirs in the oil zone. Cairn Energy Chief Executive Simon Thomson said, “We have now drilled four successful appraisal wells in Senegal and we are delighted with the results to date of the multi-well evaluation programme…
Ocean Rig Redomiciles to Cayman Islands
Ocean Rig UDW Inc. (NASDAQ:ORIG) (“Ocean Rig” or the “Company”), a global provider of offshore deepwater drilling services, has moved its corporate domicile from the Republic of the Marshall Islands to the Cayman Islands. Effective April 15, 2016, Ocean Rig’s common shares will commence trading under new CUSIP number G66964100. All shares of Ocean Rig will automatically convert by operation of law into shares of the same class of the redomiciled Ocean Rig on a one-for-one basis.
Cairn Gears up For Fourth Well Offshore Senegal
Cairn has given an update on further exploration and appraisal success in its latest well in the ongoing evaluation programme offshore Senegal. The BEL-1 well was targeting the Bellatrix exploration prospect and appraising the northern extent of the SNE field discovered in 2014. Based on the positive campaign results to date, the Joint Venture (JV) has agreed a fourth well location, SNE-4, which will commence operations shortly. The BEL-1 well targeted a shallower ‘buried hill” exploration play which is one of multiple exploration play types that have been identified across the block.
Ocean Rig UDW Announces Closing
DryShips Inc. a global provider of marine transportation services for drybulk and petroleum cargoes, and through its majority owned subsidiary, Ocean Rig UDW Inc. of offshore deepwater drilling services, announced today that Ocean Rig closed the previously announced offering of 28,571,428 shares of its common stock par value $0.01 per share, at a price of $7.00 per share. As part of the offering, George Economou, Ocean Rig’s Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, purchased $10 million…
Cairn Firms up Senegal Drill Efforts
Cairn and its joint venture partners have submitted a three year evaluation work plan to the Government of Senegal including an initial programme of three firm and three optional exploration and appraisal wells, with drilling starting in Q4 2015 in Cairn’s new basin play offshore Senegal focused on the acreage around the SNE-1 discovery well. Cairn estimates that the existing two discoveries and the currently identified prospects and leads have an estimated mean risked resource base of more than a billion barrels.
WFW Advises DNB on Loan to Ocean Rig
DNB Bank ASA, as agent and security agent on behalf of a syndicate of lenders, instructed Watson Farley & Williams (WFW) on a $475 million secured loan to the Ocean Rig Group for the financing of the ultra‐deepwater drillship Ocean Rig Apollo. The drillship was constructed at Samsung Heavy Industries in Korea and delivered on March 5, 2015. The drillship is on contract with Total E&P Congo. This follows an earlier $1.35 billion export credit‐supported loan also arranged by DNB for the Ocean Rig Group and documented by WFW.
$475 mi Committed Financing for Ocean Rig Apollo
DryShips Inc. a global provider of marine transportation services for drybulk and petroleum cargoes, and through its majority owned subsidiary, Ocean Rig UDW Inc. of offshore deepwater drilling services, today announced that Ocean Rig has received firm commitments from lenders for up to a $475 million syndicated secured term loan to partially finance the construction costs of the Ocean Rig Apollo. The facility amount is for the lesser of $475 million and 70% of the fair market value of the drillship.
Dryships Inks Deal with ENI
DryShips Inc. a global provider of marine transportation services for drybulk and petroleum cargoes, and through its majority owned subsidiary, Ocean Rig UDW Inc. (“Ocean Rig”), of offshore deepwater drilling services, today announced that certain of Ocean Rig’s subsidiaries have entered into an Omnibus Agreement with ENI Angola S.p.pursuant to which ENI has exercised its option to extend the contract for the drillship Ocean Rig Poseidon for a further one year until the second quarter of 2017.
