Third ENSCO 8500 Series® Rig Contracted to Anadarko
LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Ensco plc (NYSE: ESV) announced today that one of its subsidiaries has
entered into a contract for ENSCO 8506 with Anadarko Petroleum
Corporation. The initial contract term is for two and one-half years in
the U.S. Gulf of Mexico at a day rate of $530,000, plus cost
adjustments. The contract adds more than $480 million to revenue backlog.
Delivery of ENSCO 8506 from Keppel FELS Limited shipyard in Singapore is
scheduled for third quarter 2012 followed by contract commencement in
fourth quarter 2012 once mobilization, sea trials and acceptance testing
have been completed.
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Rabun commented, “We
are very pleased that Anadarko has chosen to contract a third ENSCO 8500
Series® rig for its drilling programs. Anadarko was an early
advocate of the ENSCO 8500 Series® design and contracted
ENSCO 8500 back in 2005.”
ENSCO 8500 commenced operations in 2009, and soon thereafter, drilled
Anadarko’s major Lucius Discovery in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. In October
2011, Anadarko contracted ENSCO 8505 as part of a rig sharing agreement
with Apache and Noble Energy. ENSCO 8505 is scheduled to commence
operations in the second quarter of this year.
ENSCO 8506 is the final of seven rigs in the ENSCO 8500 Series®.
For the first three quarters of 2011, these rigs that have operated in
Asia, North America and South America achieved 97% utilization. Ensco is
ranked #1 in overall customer satisfaction and #1 in deepwater drilling
by EnergyPoint, an independent survey firm.
The proprietary design of the ENSCO 8500 Series® rigs was
developed with extensive input from customers to address the drilling
requirements for virtually every deepwater field around the world. The
design includes a 35,000’ nominal rated drilling depth, 2 million pounds
of hoisting capacity, 8,000 tons of variable deck load and an open
layout well suited for subsea completion activities. Improved visibility
from the open deck configuration also enhances safety.
The uniform design of the ENSCO 8500 Series® streamlines
construction, operations, inventory management, training, regulatory
compliance, repairs and maintenance. It also provides flexibility for
customer specific enhancements: in particular, the 8500 Series may be
modified to drill and complete wells in water depths up to 10,000’.
Ensco plc (NYSE: ESV) brings energy to the world as a global provider of
offshore drilling services to the petroleum industry. We are ranked #1
for overall customer satisfaction in the leading independent survey
conducted by EnergyPoint Research with #1 ratings in 14 of 16 separate
categories. Ensco has served customers for 25 years and operates the
world’s second largest offshore drilling fleet comprised of
dynamically-positioned drillships and semisubmersibles, moored
semisubmersibles and premium jackups. 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 corporate headquarters located at 6 Chesterfield
Gardens, London W1J 5BQ.
Statements contained in this press release that are not historical
facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A
of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements include words or phrases such as
“anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,”
“project,” “could,” “may,” “might,” “should,” “will” and similar words
and specifically include statements regarding the timing of delivery,
mobilization, contract commencement, relocation or other movement of
rigs. Such statements are subject to numerous risks,
uncertainties and assumptions that may cause actual results to vary
materially from those indicated, including governmental regulatory,
legislative and permitting requirements affecting drilling; downtime and
other risks associated with offshore rig operations, relocations, severe
weather or hurricanes; possible cancellation or suspension of drilling
contracts as a result of mechanical difficulties, performance or other
reasons; and risks inherent to shipyard rig construction, repair,
maintenance or enhancement; actual contract commencement dates. In
addition to the numerous factors described above, you should also
carefully read and consider “Item 1A. Risk Factors” in Part I and “Item
7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and
Results of Operations” in Part II of our most recent annual report on
Form 10-K, as updated in our subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q,
which are available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov
or on the Investor Relations section of our website at www.enscoplc.com.
Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of the
particular statement, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update
or revise any forward-looking statements, except as required by law.
Source: Ensco plc