LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Ensco plc (NYSE: ESV) announced today that a subsidiary of the Company
has sublet ENSCO 8503, a new ultra-deepwater semisubmersible drilling
rig that recently mobilized to the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. ENSCO 8503 is
scheduled to begin sea trials shortly.
Under the sublet agreement, once rig acceptance procedures have been
completed in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, ENSCO 8503 will mobilize to
offshore French Guiana to commence drilling operations for a subsidiary
of Tullow Oil plc on behalf of itself and its coventurers in the license
(Shell, Total, and Northpet Investments). Acceptance procedures will be
witnessed jointly by Tullow and Cobalt International Energy, L.P. (NYSE:
CIE), the original customer for ENSCO 8503.
Mobilization to offshore French Guiana is scheduled to begin in early
2011. The combined mobilization and demobilization will be approximately
50 days in total and drilling operations in French Guiana are estimated
to be up to three months in duration. The day rate under the sublet
agreement is approximately $440,000. The mobilization and demobilization
rate is approximately 75% of the day rate. Following the sublet period,
which ends upon completion of demobilization back to the U.S. Gulf of
Mexico, the rig will resume its contract with Cobalt. The two-year term
under the original ENSCO 8503 drilling contract with Cobalt will not be
reduced by the sublet period.
Senior Vice President Carey Lowe commented, "The sublet agreement
provides many benefits to all parties. Tullow is contracting a
state-of-the-art drilling rig for a short-term assignment. Cobalt now
has additional time to secure permits in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico before
incurring certain drilling costs and Ensco has gained a new deepwater
customer in a new market. Innovative solutions like this underscore
Ensco's commitment to being the offshore driller of choice."
Ensco plc (NYSE: ESV) brings energy to the world as a global provider of
offshore drilling services to the petroleum industry. With a fleet of
ultra-deepwater semisubmersible and premium jackup drilling rigs, Ensco
serves customers with high-quality equipment, a well-trained workforce
and a strong record of safety and reliability. To learn more about
Ensco, please visit our website at www.enscoplc.com.
Ensco plc is an English limited company (England No. 7023598) with its
registered office and global headquarters located at 6 Chesterfield
Gardens, London, W1J 5BQ.
Statements contained in this press release that state the Company's
or management's intentions, plans, hopes, beliefs, expectations,
anticipations, projections, confidence, schedules, or predictions of the
future are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Forward-looking statements include words or phrases such as
"anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "plan,"
"project," "could," "may," "might," "should," "will" and words and
phrases of similar import. The forward-looking statements include, but
are not limited to, statements about the ENSCO 8503 sublet agreement and
the anticipated completion of acceptance testing and mobilization to
French Guiana, the duration of the Tullow contract and the
post-suspension resumption of the Cobalt contract.
Forward-looking statements are made pursuant to safe harbor
provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Numerous factors could cause actual results to differ materially from
those in the forward-looking statements, including: (i) the impact of
the BP Macondo well incident in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico upon future
deepwater and other offshore drilling operations in general, and as
respects current and future actual or de facto deepwater drilling permit
and operations moratoria/suspensions, new and future regulatory,
legislative or permitting requirements (including requirements related
to equipment and operations), future lease sales and other governmental
activities that may impact deepwater and other offshore operations in
the U.S. Gulf of Mexico in particular, (ii) renegotiation,
nullification, cancellation or breach of contracts or agreements with
customers or other parties including sublet agreements, (iii) the impact
of current and future government laws and regulation affecting the oil
and gas industry in general and our operations in particular, (iv)
governmental action and political and economic uncertainties, which may
create a force majeure situation, (v) difficulties that may be
encountered when commencing operations in a new market and (vi)
operational and other risks as described from time to time as Risk
Factors in the Company's SEC Filings.
Copies of such SEC filings may be obtained at no charge by contacting
our Investor Relations Department at 214-397-3045 or by referring to our
website at www.enscoplc.com.
All information in this press release is as of today. The Company
undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement, to conform
the statement to actual results, or reflect changes in the Company's
expectations.
Source: Ensco plc