Atwood secures Thailand contract for 'Atwood Orca'

Atwood Oceanics have secured a US$116 million contract for their newbuild Baker Marine Pacific 400 class jackup rig the ‘Atwood Orca’ awarded by Mubadala Petroleum. The contract is expected to commence 10 days after the unit leaves the PPL shipyard in Singapore in May 2013, and has mobilised to Thailand, with no duration announced for the contract, although a two year deal would mean a dayrate around US$135,000 for Atwood. The ‘Atwood Orca’ is the last of three identical jackup units ordered by Atwood from the PPL shipyard to be delivered with the first two units the ‘Atwood Mako’ and the ‘Atwood Manta’ both having secured contracts for work in Thailand also.

Ensco orders new drillship on back of strong market

Ensco plc has placed an order for an eighth drillship that will be built by Samsung to the yard’s proprietary drillship design. The unit which will be named the ENSCO DS-10, is being built to the GF12000 hull design and will be similar to the DS-8 & DS-9 units that Ensco also ordered from Samsung with a total construction price for the DS-10 unit of US$625 million. The unit is expected to be delivered by the end of Q3 2015 and Ensco has placed the order as the company continues to see strong demand for deep and ultra-deepwater rigs buoyed by increasing exploration activities on a global level coupled with operators demand for units with the most advanced capabilities available.

Shell contract Atwood Condor for US GoM drilling program

Atwood Oceanics have announced that the company has been awarded a new contract for its ‘Atwood Condor’ semi-submersible unit with Shell for operations in the US Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Shell has hired the unit for a dayrate of US$550,000 with the contract running for a firm period of 39 months from late August 2013, with the contract superseding the units existing contract with the Hess Corporation.

Atwood secures new contract for 'Atwood Beacon' jackup

Atwood Oceanics has secured a new contract for the company's 'Atwood Beacon' jackup rig with Eni contracting the unit for a firm period of two years for work offshore Italy. The unit will mobilise to Italy at the end of its current contract with Shemen Oil and Gas in Israel in July 2013 and will be required to incur costs related to the compliance of Italian offshore operating laws and regulations to work in the country. The contract is valued at around US$128 million and also contains an option for an additional third year.

Atwood secures first contract for newbuild drillship

Atwood Oceanics has secured a first contract for the company’s newbuild drillship the ‘Atwood Achiever’ for operations offshore Morocco with Kosmos Energy. The contract is due to commence upon delivery of the unit from Daewoo’s yard in South Korea with an initial 65 day mobilisation period before the unit starts its firm 3 year contract with a base dayrate of US$595,000. The ‘Atwood Achiever’ is the second of three drillships that will be delivered to Atwood Oceanics, following the delivery of the ‘Atwood Advantage’ in late 2013 which has been contracted by Noble Energy for operations in Israel. Atwood’s final drillship the ‘Atwood Admiral’ is due for delivery in 2015 and is currently not contracted.

Rowan secures contract for second newbuild drillship 'Rowan Resolute'

Rowan has secured a contract for the second of its four newbuild drillships that are currently being constructed by Hyundai in South Korea. The contract which is for a firm three year period has been signed with Anadarko Petroleum Corporation for the ‘Rowan Resolute’ drillship and is expected to begin once the unit has been delivered from the yard in Q3 2014, with a dayrate between US$607,000 and US$609,000. The contract award leaves Rowan with only two un-contracted newbuild drillships, the ‘Rowan Reliance’ and ‘Rowan Relentless’ which are due to be delivered from the yard in late 2014 and mid-2015.

Atwood orders fourth drillship from DSME

Atwood Oceanics has announced that the company has exercised its option with Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) for the construction of an ultra-deepwater drillship that was due to expire on 30th June 2013. The option was attached to the company’s order of the ‘Atwood Admiral’ in September 2012, with the new unit set to be named the ‘Atwood Archer’. The ‘Atwood Archer’ is expected to cost US$635 million, and is due to be delivered by the 31st December 2015 and will be the fourth drillship in Atwood’s growing offshore rig fleet. The ‘Atwood Archer’ will be equipped with two blowout preventers and will be able to operate in water depths up to 12,000ft, whilst the order also comes with another option which expires at the end of March 2014 for the delivery of a similar drillship unit in September 2016.

Ensco orders fourth ENSCO 120 series jackup rig

Ensco plc (Ensco) has announced the ordering of a fourth version of the company’s ENSCO 120 customised series of jackup rigs. Ensco placed the order for the unit which will be named the ‘Ensco 123’ with Keppel FELS in Singapore, just as it has done for the three previous units. Construction of the ‘Ensco 123’ is expected to cost US$285 million, with delivery coming in Q2 2016 along with the option to order another unit of similar design from the yard. The order of the ‘Ensco 123’ follows the recent delivery of the first version of the jackup design the ‘Ensco 120’, which was delivered in August 2013 and is now working for Nexen on its Golden Eagle development in the UK North Sea.

Ensco Plc secures two year contract for its newbuild 'Ensco 122' jackup

Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij B.V. (NAM) a Netherlands focused oil and gas explorer and producer has contracted Ensco’s newbuild ‘Ensco 122’ jackup rig for future drilling work in the Netherlands and UK sections of the North Sea. NAM has contracted the newbuild jackup rig on a two year contract, beginning in Q4 2014 and running through to Q4 2016, at a dayrate in the low US$230,000’s. The ‘Ensco 122’ is expected to be delivered in late Q3 2014 and upon delivery the unit will mobilise to the Netherlands from Singapore to begin its contract with NAM.

Atwood Oceanics takes delivery of the 'Atwood Advantage' drillship

Atwood Oceanics has taken delivery of the rig managers’ newbuild drillship the ‘Atwood Advantage’ from Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Ltd (DSME) in South Korea. Upon delivery from DSME the unit entered straight into its contract with Noble Energy and began the mobilisation phase to the Eastern Mediterranean, where upon arrival it will begin its three year drilling contract with Noble Energy. The ‘Atwood Advantage’ is the first of four ultra-deepwater drillships to be delivered to Atwood with the remaining three units currently under construction at DSME and due for delivery in 2014 & 2015.

Atwood Oceanics takes delivery of the 'Atwood Advantage' drillship

Atwood Oceanics has taken delivery of the rig managers’ newbuild drillship the ‘Atwood Advantage’ from Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Ltd (DSME) in South Korea. Upon delivery from DSME the unit entered straight into its contract with Noble Energy and began the mobilisation phase to the US Gulf of Mexico, where upon arrival it will begin its three year drilling contract with Noble Energy. The ‘Atwood Advantage’ is the first of four ultra-deepwater drillships to be delivered to Atwood with the remaining three units currently under construction at DSME and due for delivery in 2014 & 2015.

Ensco takes delivery of newbuild 'ENSCO 121' jackup rig

Ensco Plc (Ensco) has taken delivery of the ‘ENSCO 121’, the second of the company’s four high-specification’ jackup rigs built to its ENSCO 120 series design. The ‘ENSCO 121’ has been contracted by Wintershall for drilling operations in the North Sea beginning in Q2 2014 for a firm two year period. The unit was delivered to Ensco by Keppel FELS (Keppel) in Singapore and is currently being mobilised to Keppel’s shipyard in Rotterdam in the Netherlands to undergo final load out and crew familiarization. Ensco’s 120 series of jackups are enhanced version of Keppel’s Super A jackup design and can operate in water depths up to 400ft whilst drilling down to total depths of 40,000ft.

Jaguar-1 exploration well update

Drilling operations at the Jaguar-1 well in the Georgetown Block, Guyana, have ended and the well will be plugged and abandoned at a depth of 4,876 metres, without reaching the primary objective. The decision to stop drilling at this point was unanimously agreed by all partners based on safety criteria and was taken after reaching a point in the well where the pressure design limits for safe operations prevented further drilling to the main objective. Jaguar-1 was a high pressure, high temperature well which was spudded in February 2012 using the Atwood Beacon rig. Whilst the primary Late Cretaceous objective was not reached, samples of light oil were successfully recovered from two Late Cretaceous turbidite sands above the primary objective.

'Rowan Renaissance' drillship schedule and Welwitschia-1 planned spud date

Tower Resources plc (the "Company" or "Tower" (TRP.L, TRP LN)), through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Neptune Petroleum (Namibia) Limited ("Neptune"), has received formal notification from Repsol Exploration (Namibia) (Pty) Limited ("Repsol"), the Operator of Namibia PEL0010 (Neptune 30% working interest), that the scheduled arrival of the Rowan Renaissance Drillship in Walvis Bay, Namibia, will be delayed by approximately one month. The rig is now scheduled to arrive at the well location on 23 March 2014 and it is estimated that the drilling of the Welwitschia-1 well will commence at the end of March 2014. The Rowan Renaissance is a new build, dual-stack, 6th generation drillship, being constructed in the Ulsan shipyard, South Korea, by Hyundai Heavy Industries and is on a three year, international, multi-well contract to Repsol. The vessel is expected to depart South Korea towards the end of January 2014 after wet testing the Blow-Out Preventers. Following its departure, the rig will then make two scheduled stops in Singapore and Cape Town. These operational "stop overs" also allow the loading of drilling related equipment. The Welwitschia-1 prospect which is targeting net risked recoverable resources of 496 mmboe to Tower's 30% interest (based on the updated CPR - July 2013) promises to be one of the highest profile exploration wells drilled in Africa during 2014. Graeme Thomson, Tower's CEO, commented: "Whilst we have been aware of the more conservative timing suggested by Rowan's recent Fleet Status Report the formal notification from the Operator and Rowan is in fact a new development, but it is only a short delay. We and the market are increasingly excited as the drilling of Welwitschia-1 draws closer and will provide further updates as we move towards the spud date of this giant prospect".

Cua Lo-1 exploration well begins drilling offshore Vietnam

KrisEnergy Ltd. (“KrisEnergy” or “the Company”), an independent upstream oil and gas company, is pleased to announce that today the Ensco 107 jack-up rig began drilling the Cua Lo-1 exploration well in Block 105-110/04 (“Block 105”) in the Gulf of Tonkin, offshore Vietnam. The Cua Lo-1 exploration well is planned to reach approximately -2,800 metres total vertical depth subsea and is intended to test the Cua Lo gas prospect. It is anticipated that drilling will last approximately 42 days. “Cua Lo-1 is the first of two high impact exploration wells offshore Vietnam for us this year and we are excited to be finally drilling this attractive and large prospect. It is important to note that this is a wildcat well and therefore the risks are high, but both Block 105 and our other licence offshore Vetnam, Block 120, contain multiple prospects for future drilling whatever the outcome of these wells,” said Chris Gibson-Robinson, KrisEnergy’s Director Exploration & Production. Block 105 covers an area of 7,192 sq km in the Gulf of Tonkin, overlying the central Song Hong Basin where water depths range from 20 metres to 80 metres. The water depth at the Cua Lo-1 location is 76 metres. KrisEnergy holds a 25% working interest in Block 105 and is partnered by Eni Vietnam B.V. as the operator with 50% working interest and Neon Energy (Song Hong) Pty Ltd with 25%.

Vietnam Cua Lo 1 ST-1 exploration well reaches total depth

KrisEnergy Ltd. (“KrisEnergy” or “the Company”), an independent upstream oil and gas company, is pleased to announce that the Cua Lo 1 ST-1 exploration well in Block 105-110/04 (“Block 105”) has reached a total depth of 2,867 metres measured depth (“MD”), or -2,800 metres total vertical depth subsea (“TVDSS”). The operator, Eni Vietnam B.V., is currently running wireline logs prior to undertaking a drill stem test. The Company intends to make a further announcement once all data has been received and analysed. The Cua Lo 1 ST-1 well is a sidetrack well to the original Cua Lo-1 exploration well, which commenced drilling on 11 August 2013 and was then subsequently plugged back from a depth of -2,531 TVDSS and sidetracked due to an unexpected high pressure kick. Drilling operations have been further delayed by a series of strong typhoons passing through the region, which have resulted in the evacuation of crew from the Ensco 107 jack-up rig on four occasions. Block 105 covers an area of 7,192 sq km offshore northern Vietnam, overlying the central Song Hong Basin where water depths range from 20 metres to 80 metres. The water depth at the Cua Lo 1 ST-1 location is 76 metres. KrisEnergy holds a 25% working interest in Block 105 and is partnered by Eni Vietnam B.V. with 50% working interest and Neon Energy (Song Hong) Pty Ltd with 25%.

Vietnam Ca Ngu-1 exploration well reaches total depth

KrisEnergy Ltd. (“KrisEnergy” or “the Company”), an independent upstream oil and gas company, is pleased to announce that the Ca Ngu-1 exploration well in Block 120 has reached a total depth of 1,290 metres measured depth (“MD”), or 1,267 metres total vertical depth subsea (“TVDSS”). The Ca Ngu-1 well commenced drilling on 10 October 2013. Water depth at the Ca Ngu-1 location is approximately 270 metres. Wireline log data confirmed the presence of gas in Pliocene sandstone reservoirs, and a 15.2 metre gross hydrocarbon column within the Miocene carbonate reservoir, comprising a 10.6 metre gas column above a 4.8 metre oil rim. Drilling operations have been delayed by a series of strong typhoons passing through the region, which have resulted in the evacuation of crew from the Songa Mercur semisubmersible rig on several occasions. Chris Gibson-Robinson, KrisEnergy’s Director Exploration & Production, commented: "Ca Ngu-1 is being plugged and abandoned after encountering gas and oil volumes in the primary objective. Although the Ca Ngu well did not encounter significant volumes of hydrocarbons, it has confirmed the existence of a petroleum system in the area and provides valuable data for us and our partners to analyse before deciding our future exploration strategy within Block 120. We are encouraged by the preliminary results and it is important to reiterate that Block 120 has multiple exploration plays.” Block 120 covers an area of 8,574 sq km overlying the Quang Ngai Graben and the Tri Ton Horst where water depths range from 50 metres to 1,100 metres. The graben connects the Song Hong and Qiongdongnan basins in the north to the Phu Khanh Basin in the south. KrisEnergy holds a 25% working interest in Block 120 and is partnered by Eni Vietnam B.V. as the operator with 50% working interest and Neon Energy (Song Hong) Pty Ltd with 25%.

Vietnam Cua Lo-1 exploration well completes testing

KrisEnergy Ltd. (“KrisEnergy” or “the Company”), an independent upstream oil and gas company, announces the completion of the drilling and testing of the Cua Lo-1 exploration well in Block 105-110/04 (“Block 105”). The Cua Lo-1 well was drilled to a measured depth of 2,867 metres, or 2,837 metres total vertical depth subsea. Based on log interpretation, several gas bearing sandstone reservoirs were identified. A drill stem test was conducted on a reservoir evaluated with the largest potential within the prospect. Although gas flowed during the test, the poor reservoir deliverability rate combined with high carbon dioxide content suggests that development of the tested reservoir will be unlikely. The well will be plugged and abandoned. The Cua Lo-1 well confirms both the trapping mechanism and the existence of a petroleum system in Block 105 and provides valuable data for deciding the future exploration strategy in the block. Additional oil and gas prospectivity exists within the block, providing opportunities for further exploration. Block 105 covers an area of 7,192 sq km offshore northern Vietnam, overlying the central Song Hong Basin where water depths range from 20 metres to 80 metres. The water depth at the Cua Lo-1 location is 76 metres. KrisEnergy holds a 25% working interest in Block 105 and is partnered by Eni Vietnam B.V. as the operator with 50% working interest and Neon Energy (Song Hong) Pty Ltd with 25%.

Vietnam Cua Lo-1 exploration well completes testing

KrisEnergy Ltd. (“KrisEnergy” or “the Company”), an independent upstream oil and gas company, announces the completion of the drilling and testing of the Cua Lo-1 exploration well in Block 105-110/04 (“Block 105”). The Cua Lo-1 well was drilled to a measured depth of 2,867 metres, or 2,837 metres total vertical depth subsea. Based on log interpretation, several gas bearing sandstone reservoirs were identified. A drill stem test was conducted on a reservoir evaluated with the largest potential within the prospect. Although gas flowed during the test, the poor reservoir deliverability rate combined with high carbon dioxide content suggests that development of the tested reservoir will be unlikely. The well will be plugged and abandoned. The Cua Lo-1 well confirms both the trapping mechanism and the existence of a petroleum system in Block 105 and provides valuable data for deciding the future exploration strategy in the block. Additional oil and gas prospectivity exists within the block, providing opportunities for further exploration. Block 105 covers an area of 7,192 sq km offshore northern Vietnam, overlying the central Song Hong Basin where water depths range from 20 metres to 80 metres. The water depth at the Cua Lo-1 location is 76 metres. KrisEnergy holds a 25% working interest in Block 105 and is partnered by Eni Vietnam B.V. as the operator with 50% working interest and Neon Energy (Song Hong) Pty Ltd with 25%.

Freeport-McMoran Oil & Gas partner secures rig for Magazan permit drilling in Morocco

Pura Vida Energy NL (“Pura Vida” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce the execution of a rig share agreement for the drilling of two wells in the Mazagan permit by the ‘Atwood Achiever’ deepwater drillship. The ‘Atwood Achiever’ has been contracted by Kosmos Energy for a four year period upon delivery from the shipyard in Q3 2014.Under the rig share agreement with Kosmos, two slots have been assigned for the drilling of wells in the Mazagan permit. The first of these slots will be used to drill the Toubkal-1 well and is expected to commence in January 2015. The second slot will be in 2H 2015. The Mazagan permit in Morocco is operated by Freeport-McMoran Oil & Gas.

'Rowan Renaissance' drillship completes mobilisation to Namibia

Tower Resources plc (the "Company" or "Tower" (TRP.L, TRP LN)), the AIM listed Africa focussed oil and gas exploration company, is pleased to confirm that the Rowan Renaissance drillship arrived, as expected, in Walvis Bay, Namibia, yesterday. This new build drillship will now undergo the scheduled preparation and final acceptance testing by Repsol, to whom it is being hired on a three year contract. It is still expected to commence its operations for the Welwitschia-1 well, operated by Repsol and in which Tower has a 30% interest, on or around 11 April, with the spud being approximately one week later.

'Rowan Renaissance' is the first vessel built using ISQM

ABS, a leading classification service has achieved an industry first with the completion of the Rowan Companies’ Rowan Renaissance drillship. This newbuild, which was built in the Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) yard in Ulsan, South Korea, is the first in the world to have earned ABS’ Integrated Software Quality Management (ISQM) notation. “As reliance on computer controlled systems has increased, verifying software programs –including their integration – has become critical to safe and efficient operations,” says ABS Chairman, President and CEO Christopher J. Wiernicki. “ABS developed ISQM, a risk-informed software development and maintenance process, to verify software at the time of installation and monitor for consistency and reliability when software updates or hardware changes are made.” Historically, Class rules have focused on steel and equipment. ISQM focuses on the software that controls the equipment. ABS’ ISQM notation provides a clear process of minimizing software related risk throughout the life of an asset. “No other class society has classed the drilling equipment and other essential marine equipment with a software notation that addresses software quality during construction, at delivery and beyond,” says Paul Walters, ABS Manager. Rowan Companies recognized the ABS ISQM process as the best option for describing the operation of the equipment, identifying and mitigating risk and verifying the many safety critical components of its high-specification asset. In its first application on the high-specification ultra-deepwater drillship Rowan Renaissance, ISQM facilitated reliable integration of products from more than half a dozen major suppliers and more than 35 subsystems. The ISQM process has a goal of reducing safety, environmental and productivity risks while increasing efficiency and productivity of the drillship.

'ENSCO 107' jackup enroute to Maari/Manaia fields

OMV New Zealand, on behalf of its Maari JV partners, is pleased to announce the jack-up drilling rig 'ENSCO 107' has been unloaded from the heavy lift vessel Talisman in Admiralty Bay and is now on its way to the Maari field in the Taranaki Basin. A blessing of the rig was performed by Ngati Koata and Ngati Ruanui in Admiralty Bay prior to its floating off and journey to Maari. The tow to the Maari field will take approximately 18 hours before the rig commences the final approach to the set up position for moving alongside the Maari Wellhead Platform. “The focus of the Maari Growth project is to access untapped oil accumulations in the permit and to better drain the existing reservoirs,” explained Peter Zeilinger, Managing Director of OMV New Zealand. “This should help stabilise the natural production decline we are seeing at the field and allow us to continue production at Maari for at least another 10 years.” The drilling program of five wells is expected to run well into 2015 and will keep a workforce of more than 250 personnel occupied on and offshore to safely deliver the project. The ‘ENSCO 107’ is returning to familiar waters at the Maari field. It drilled the field’s original production and water injection wells as well as the Manaia-1 well which, at eight kilometres long still holds the record for the longest well drilled in New Zealand.

Ensco places order for new ENSCO 140 series jackups

Ensco plc (Ensco) has announced that it has ordered two new jackup rigs with the intention of targeting new drilling contracts in the Middle East market. Ensco has placed an order for the construction of the ‘ENSCO 140’ and ‘ENSCO 141’. Both units are enhanced versions of LeTourneau’s Super-116E jackup design and have been ordered from Lamprell’s shipyards in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with delivery of the first unit expected in mid-2016. Ensco has designed the units to meet the majority of customer requirements in the Middle East, which is the primary target market for the two units. Both units will be built initially to operate in 340ft of water, with the option to upgrade the operational depth to 400ft and will be capable of drilling down to maximum depths of 30,000ft. The total construction price for the ‘ENSCO 140’ and ‘ENSCO 141’ is a combined US$430 million, or US$215 million per rig. The construction contract also includes options for two additional rigs of similar design.

Large waves cause problems for 'ENSCO 8506'

The US Coast Guard is overseeing response efforts, Tuesday, for an offshore drilling rig that began taking on water into a ballast tank after a large wave hit them in heavy seas more than 100 miles south of Galveston, Texas. On Tuesday morning the US Coast Guard received a report that the ‘ENSCO 8506’, an offshore semi-submersible drilling rig, had been damaged causing one of the rig’s column ballast tanks to take on water. The capacity of the ballast pumps on-board are keeping up with the ingress of water in the column ballast tank. The rig is maintaining an even keel and remains in a stable position without resorting to using the emergency pumps, or performing an emergency disconnect from the riser. There are no reports of injuries or pollution. The ‘ENSCO 8506’ was conducting exploration activities for Anadarko at the company’s Deep Nansen prospect at the time and did not have any oil on-board from drilling operations. The drilling rig is operating in an area with a 3,800-foot water depth and was not conducting actual drilling operations when the incident occurred. All rig operations have been suspended and preparations are being made for normal disconnect procedures if necessary to make repairs.

Repsol spuds Welwitschia-1 well in Namibia

Tower Resources plc (Tower) has announced that it has been notified by Repsol Exploration Ltd (Repsol) that the Welwitschia-1 well in Nambia was successfully spudded at 14:40 GMT on the 23rd April, 2014. Repsol is using the recently delivered ‘Rowan Renaissance’ drillship for drilling operations at the well. The Welwitschia-1 well is expected to take up to 46 days to drill, with Tower’s interest in the well set at 30%.

Atwood Oceanics announces extension of 'Atwood Orca' contract

Atwood Oceanics Inc (Atwood) today announced that the company’s ‘Atwood Orca’ jackup rig has been awarded a nine month contract extension by Mubadala Petroleum (Mubadala). The contract extension means that the unit is now contracted to Mubadala until February 2016. The unit has been operating for Mubadala since its delivery from the shipyard in 2013. The new contract extension also means a rise in dayrate, with the rate increasing to US$165,000 in May 2015.

'Ralph Coffman' on track to spud TAO-1 well in Morocco

Tangiers Petroleum Limited (Tangiers) has announced that the TAO-1 well off the Moroccan coast is on track to be spudded in June 2014, after the Moroccan National Office of Hydrocarbons and Mines provided final approval to a farm-out agreement between Tangiers and Galp Energia (Galp). Under the agreement Galp will pay Tangiers US$7.5 million for reimbursement of costs associated with the well. Galp has hired Rowan’s ‘Ralph Coffman’ jackup to drill the TAO-1 well, with the unit due to arrive in Morocco in May, following completion of its current contract in Egypt.

Fairmount Sherpa Tows Atwood Condor from Mauritius to Trinidad

Fairmount Marine’s tug Fairmount Sherpa has delivered rig Atwood Condor fast and safely to Port of Spain, Trinidad. The semi-submersible rig was towed from Port Louis, Mauritius, over a distance of 8,100 nautical miles with an average speed of 8.5 knots. Before crossing the Atlantic Ocean Fairmount Sherpa and her tow made a planned four days stop-over at Walvis Bay, Namibia. During this stop-over the Fairmount Sherpa performed several cargo and passengers runs between the rig and the port.

Fairmount Marine Safely Delievered ENSCO 5004 to Malta

Fairmount Marine has safely delivered rig ENSCO 5004 in Malta at the end of a voyage that began offshore Rio de Janeiro. The towage of rig ENSCO 5004 from Rio de Janeiro to Malta took about 5,782 nautical miles and during the voyage speeds well over 7 knots were reached.

Rig ENSCO 5006 Delivered to Singapore

Tugs Fairmount Summit and Fairmount Alpine have towed rig ENSCO 5006 safely from Cyprus to Singapore. The Fairmount twins towed the rig over about 13,000 miles. Before the departure off Limasol, Cyprus, both Fairmount tugs performed anchor handling work for the rig. On the request of its owners, cargo and crew runs were completed during a stop off at Las Palmas and a bunker stop was made at Port Nqgura, South Africa. During parts of the voyage transit speeds up to 9 knots were reached.

Bureau Veritas Oversees Drilling Rig Upgrade

Bureau Veritas is overseeing the upgrade of semi-submersible drilling unit ENSCO 5004. The rig, which can drill to 25,000ft in a water depth of 1,500ft, is classed by Bureau Veritas. The upgrade, which is being carried out in Malta, is expected to be completed by June 2014, in preparation for a 900-day contract working offshore Libya. During the upgrade, Bureau Veritas carried out a major classification survey covering inspection of the internal structure of ballast tanks, columns, bracings and internal girders, as well as inspection of the drill floor, helideck support structure, crane pedestals, lifeboat platform supports and heavy deck equipment foundations. This work also included an underwater survey, in lieu of dry-dock, mooring chains measurements, design reviews and inspections of several modifications. It will conclude with an inclining test and approval of the new stability booklet. Bureau Veritas’ survey centre in Malta is being supported in these surveys by the plan approval office in Houston and the marine centre in Miami, as well as by teams from the Paris head office and the equipment & materials certification unit in the UK.

ABS to Class Advanced Capability Deepwater Drillship

Ensco plc has selected ABS as the class society for its advanced-capability, ultra deepwater drillship to be built at the Samsung Heavy Industries, Co. Ltd (SHI) Shipyard in Geoje, South Korea. The ENSCO DS-8 will be the sixth Samsung DP3 drillship in the fleet and will extend the benefits of Ensco’s fleet standardization strategy. With drilling capabilities in water depths to 12,000 feet and a total vertical drilling depth of 40,000 feet, this new vessel will meet the demands of ultra deepwater drilling. “Samsung is the market leader in drillship newbuilds and utilizes advanced shipbuilding technology. We’re proud that ABS will be the first class society to deliver this new drillship design,” says In Yong Jeong, ABS District Principal Surveyor. “This contract demonstrates that ABS has the experience and expertise to class deepwater drillships that sometimes come with inevitable technical challenges.” New features on the ENSCO DS-8 include retractable thrusters, enhanced safety and environmental features, improved dynamic positioning capabilities and advanced drilling and completion functionality, including below-main-deck riser storage, triple fluid systems, offline conditioning capability and enhanced client and third-party facilities. “An ongoing trend of new deepwater oil and gas discoveries around the globe is creating a high demand for equipment capable of tapping those resources,” says Ensco Chairman, President and CEO Dan Rabun. “Our track record of leading and deepwater performance increasingly makes us the driller of choice for operators working in complex offshore fields. Our high-grading strategy will ensure that we continue to be equipped to respond to rising demand.” The drillship also is set to receive the environmentally friendly notations from ABS, including ENVIRO+ denoting that the vessel adheres to enhanced environmental standards and the dynamic positioning notation DPS 3. Construction cost, including commissioning, systems integration testing, project management and spares is expected to be approximately $645 million. The vessel is scheduled for delivery in the third quarter of 2014.

Hydrocarbon discovery offshore Canada

Hydro and Husky Energy have discovered hydrocarbons during delineation drilling in the Jeanne d'Arc Basin, offshore Newfoundland and Labrador. The West Bonne Bay F-12 well is located in Significant Discovery License (SDL) 1040, approximately 320 kilometres southeast of St. John’s, in close proximity to the Terra Nova oil field. Under a farm-in agreement with Hydro, operator of SDL 1040, Husky Energy drilled the well using the jack-up drilling rig Rowan Gorilla VI. The F-12 well was drilled to a total depth of 4,666 metres. A side track well F-12Z was drilled to further delineate the structure and to gather additional reservoir information. In both wells hydrocarbons were encountered in the Upper Hibernia formation. Further analysis of core, fluid samples and wireline log data is continuing to estimate the recoverable resources from this pool. “Hydro is very satisfied with the drilling operation and the cooperation with Husky. We are encouraged by the result and will evaluate the find further to see if this can be developed commercially, said Johan Kr. Mikkelsen, President of Norsk Hydro Canada Oil & Gas.

Agreement for drilling the West Bonne Bay Prospect

Hydro has entered into a farm-in agreement with Husky Energy Inc. for the drilling of a well in the Jeanne dArc Basin, offshore Newfoundland and Labrador. Hydro currently holds a 90 percent working interest and is the operator of the West Bonne Bay SDL 1040. Under the terms of the farm-in agreement, Husky will receive a 25 percent working interest in the prospect and an additional 7.5 percent in the North Ben Nevis SDL 1008, where Husky has a working interest of 65.6 percent. Husky will serve as operator for the drilling program. Mr. Johan Kristian Mikkelsen, President of Norsk Hydro Canada Oil & Gas, is pleased to welcome Husky Energy as a partner in the drilling of this well. “By using the drilling rig “Rowan Gorilla VI” under contract to Husky Energy, we have the opportunity to drill the well during a period when the market for drilling rigs is extremely tight,” he says. The West Bonne Bay prospect is located in Significant Discovery License (SDL) 1040, approximately 320 kilometres southeast of St. John’s, in close proximity to the Terra Nova oil field, and in water depths of 100 metres. The well will be drilled using the jack-up drilling rig “Rowan Gorilla VI”, which is under contract to Husky Energy. Drilling of the West Bonne Bay well is expected to begin in late June and will take approximately 60 days.

Welwitschia-1 well drilling suspended

Tower Resources plc (Tower), the Africa-focussed oil and gas exploration company, has provided an update on drilling operations for the Welwitschia-1 well in Namibia. At present there has been a delay to the drilling schedule, with Tower not expecting drilling operations to recommence until the end of May 2014.On 23 April 2014, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Neptune Petroleum (Namibia) Limited (Neptune), Tower announced that it had received formal notification from Repsol Exploration (Namibia) (Pty) Limited (Repsol), the operator of Namibia PEL0010 (Neptune 30% working interest), that the ‘Rowan Renaissance’ Drillship spudded the Welwitschia-1 well at 14:40 GMT. The drilling operations were expected to be completed within 46 days and the well status was to remain "tight hole" with a full update once operations on the Welwitschia-1 well had been fully completed and analysed.Tower, along with the PEL0010 joint-venture partners (the "JV Partners") wish to provide the following update: Following the spud of Welwitschia-1 and installation of the 36-inch casing it was observed that the wellhead housing had "slumped". A decision was taken by the JV Partners to plug and abandon the Welwitschia-1 well and re-spud the well as Welwitschia-1A at a distance of approximately 50 metres from the original spud location. Welwitschia-1A was spud at 3:30am on 1 May 2014 with no recurrence of the above issue. Despite the delay, it was expected that the re-spud would not impact on the overall cost or timing of the well. Repsol has since reported a further operational delay to the drilling programme due to a fault with part of the Blow Out Preventer (BOP) control system. Drilling has been suspended whilst Repsol and the drilling contractor, Rowan, are taking measures to rectify the fault so that they are able to recommence drilling safely. It is estimated that commissioning issues relating to the BOP control system will delay further drilling until the end of May 2014. The current status of the well is that casing has been set to a depth of 1,879 metres and we anticipate drilling into the primary target section shortly following the restart of drilling operations. The cost implications of the delay are currently being examined by the JV Partners and depend upon allocation between Repsol and the drilling contractor, Rowan. However, it is the view of Tower and the JV Partners that the well will be completed within budget despite the recent delays.

Rig secured for development drilling in Greater Stella area

Ithaca Energy Inc. announces that it has signed an agreement with Ensco Offshore UK Limited to provide a jack up drilling unit for development drilling on the Stella and Harrier fields to commence in 2012. Further to the recently announced Development Concept selection for the Stella and Harrier Fields in Block 30/6a of the Central North Sea, the Company has signed a Letter of Award for the Ensco 100 drilling unit for the development drilling campaign on the Stella and Harrier fields. The campaign, which will include the drilling of 5 firm wells and up to 3 options for additional wells, will commence on Stella in H2 2012.

Greater Stella area turnkey drilling contract award

Ithaca Energy Inc. announces that it has contracted the services of Applied Drilling Technology International ("ADTI"), to manage development drilling and completion operations on the Greater Stella Area ("GSA") under "turnkey" contract arrangements. ADTI is a subsidiary of Transocean, the world's largest offshore drilling contractor. In line with Ithaca's strategy for de-risking key development workscopes, the ADTI turnkey contract locks in the expenditure and performance requirements of the core drilling operations. ADTI has played a central role in all aspects of the GSA well planning and design work that has been completed over the course of 2012. The drilling campaign is anticipated to commence in Q2-2013 using the high-spec Ensco 100 heavy duty jack-up rig. The drilling campaign involves the completion of four wells on the Stella field prior to start-up of production. Each well is anticipated to take approximately 80-90 days to drill, complete and clean-up test. The joint venture partners in the Ithaca operated Greater Stella Area are Ithaca Energy (UK) Ltd (54.66%), Dyas UK Ltd (25.34%) and Petrofac Energy Developments UK Limited (20%). Mike Travis, Greater Stella Area Project Manager, commented: "The award of the ADTI contract represents an important step in the Company's approach to reducing GSA project execution risk. ADTI has a long and established relationship with Ithaca, having successfully and safelycompleted turnkey operations on seven of the Company's operated wells over recent years. ADTI has a highly experienced drilling team in place to manage execution of the campaign and we look forward to the commencement of drilling operations in this quarter."

Stella drilling commences

Ithaca Energy Inc. ("Ithaca" or the "Company") announces the commencement of development drilling operations on the Stella field, with the first well on the field having been spudded using the Ensco 100 heavy duty jack-up rig. The initial campaign involves the drilling and completion of four production wells on the Stella field prior to start-up. Three horizontal wells are to be drilled into the oil rim of the field, long with one highly deviated gas-condensate well on the crest of the structure. As previously announced, Advanced Drilling Technology International ("ADTI"), a subsidiary of the global drilling contractor Transocean, has been contracted to manage the drilling and completion operations under "turnkey" contract arrangements. Each well is anticipated to take approximately 80-90 days to drill and complete. It is planned for each well to be clean-up tested, within the capacity limits of the flow test equipment that will be used on the Ensco 100. Details of the test results will be provided. The joint venture partners in the Ithaca operated GSA are Ithaca Energy (UK) Limited (54.66%), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, Dyas UK Limited (25.34%) and Petrofac Energy Developments (20%).

'Ralph Coffman' begins mobilisation to Morocco to spud TAO-1 well

Tangiers Petroleum (Tangiers) has confirmed work will get underway on its first Moroccan exploration well in mid to late June. This follows the mobilisation of the ‘Ralph Coffman’ jack-up rig, which will target a best estimate of 758mln barrels of the black stuff. The ‘Ralph Coffman’ has been in a shipyard in Egypt since the beginning of April 2014, but Tangiers confirms that the unit has now begun mobilisation to Morocco. Tangiers has a 25% interest in the block where the TAO-1 well is being spudded. The TAO-1 well is operated by Portugal’s Galp Energia, which has a 50% interest, with the remaining stake owned by ONHYM, the state-controlled oil company. Tangiers managing director Dave Wall described TAO-1 as a “highly attractive prospect for Tangiers' shareholders”. "It is a very large structure located in shallow water within a proven play fairway and adjacent to an existing oil discovery," he said. "All the ingredients required for exploration success are present in the region, giving Tangiers, and its shareholders, a good chance of success at TAO-1."

Keppel FELS delivers ENSCO 101 to ENSCO

Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS), Keppel FELS Energy & Infrastructure Ltd’s wholly-owned subsidiary engaged in offshore construction, conversion and repair, has delivered ENSCO 101 to ENSCO Offshore International Company (ENSCO). Keppel FELS undertook the engineering and construction and provided the rig’s marine equipment. The total value of the rig is estimated to be around US$150 million. Said Mr Carl Thorne, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of ENSCO International Inc, at the christening ceremony of the rig on 14 February 2000, "We are very happy with the on time and within budget delivery of ENSCO 101. We were confident of Keppel FELS’ capabilities given their track record in the offshore drilling construction industry and they have certainly lived up to their reputation." "The success of ENSCO 101 is the result of the excellent teamwork displayed by the Keppel FELS and ENSCO project teams over the past two years. We are pleased to have had the opportunity to work with ENSCO on this rig, which is one of our most successful designs," commented Mr Choo Chiau Beng, Chairman/Managing Director of Keppel FELS Energy & Infrastructure Ltd. ENSCO 101 is an enhanced Keppel FELS Mod V Jack-Up Drilling Rig designed and built to operate in water depths of up to 350 feet in harsh environments and up to 450 feet in more benign environments.

Keppel’s yard in US delivers jack-up rig to ENSCO on time and on budget

Keppel’s yard in Brownsville, Texas, AMFELS Inc. has successfully delivered on time and on budget, a KFELS MOD V “B” class ultra premium jack-up drilling unit to a subsidiary of ENSCO International Incorporated. ENSCO 105 is the second MOD V “B” new generation deep-well drilling rig that has been completed. The total cost of construction and outfitting for the ENSCO 105 was in excess of US$100 million (S$175m), of which work performed by AMFELS formed a major portion.

Keppel FELS divests interest in rig for US$95 million

Keppel FELS Limited (KFELS) has divested its entire 75% interest in ENSCO Enterprises Limited (JVC) for US$95 million in cash, to ENSCO Offshore International Company (ENSCO), a subsidiary of ENSCO International Incorporated. Net gain from the disposal is US$13 million (S$22 million) or 2.8 Singapore cents per Keppel Corporation share. The JVC is part of an alliance agreement with ENSCO to build, own and operate a jack-up rig, ENSCO 102. The agreement carries an option for ENSCO to buy KFELS’ interest in the rig. ENSCO elected to exercise the option, which was set to expire in May 2004, and has become sole owner of the ENSCO 102. Mr Tong Chong Heong, Managing Director & Chief Operating Officer of Keppel Offshore & Marine Limited, said, “Keppel FELS remains focused on designing and building rigs and other offshore platforms. The Keppel Offshore & Marine group will continue to leverage our strengths to offer innovative and quality solutions to our customers.” Currently on charter to Shell in Malaysia, ENSCO 102 is a premium jackup based on the KFELS MOD V A class design, capable of working in water depths of up to 400 feet in environments such as South East Asia and the Gulf of Mexico.

Keppel FELS signs rig construction agreement with ENSCO

Keppel FELS Limited has entered into an agreement with a subsidiary of ENSCO International Incorporated (ENSCO) to construct a KFELS B class jackup rig. The consideration is US$55 million in cash and three rigs, the ENSCO 55 jackup and ENSCO 23 and 24 platform rigs. The new high performance premium jackup rig, due for delivery in late 2005, will be named ENSCO 107. It is a repeat order of BIGFOOT, the ENSCO 106, which Keppel FELS is currently building with scheduled completion by year-end. This transaction is subject to execution of a definitive vessel construction contract and required US regulatory approvals, expected to be satisfied by March 2004. Keppel FELS is entering into a separate agreement with another drilling services company for the sale of the three ENSCO rigs. Further information about the sale will be announced in due course. Mr Tong Chong Heong, Managing Director & Chief Operating Officer of Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M) said, “These agreements showcase the win-win business partnership we have with our valued customers. “Our ability to package total solutions to meet the needs of our customers is a key to our success.”

Keppel FELS to deliver KFELS B class jackup ahead of schedule

Keppel FELS Ltd (Keppel FELS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd (Keppel O&M), today christens its KFELS B Class design jackup drilling rig, designed and built for ENSCO International Inc (ENSCO). Completed within budget, the jackup rig will be delivered to ENSCO ahead of schedule in end January 2005. The rig, ENSCO 106, is the first KFELS B Class jackup customised to meet ENSCO’s needs for a larger footprint in the three legs of the jackup. The footprints, which are called the spud cans, are of larger diameters. This gives ENSCO 106 the flexibility to operate in waters where the sea-bed soil conditions are extremely soft. The rig is also equipped with the Rack Phase Differential and Pinion Load monitoring systems. Developed by Keppel Offshore & Marine’s research and development arm, Offshore Technology Development (OTD), these systems assist rig personnel in safe deployment at the drilling location. ENSCO 106 is the fifth KFELS B Class jackup to be completed by Keppel FELS. It is also the fifth jackup that Keppel O&M has built for ENSCO since 1998. ENSCO 106 will be deployed to Apache Energy Limited for the North West Shelf field in Australia.

Keppel FELS divests its entire interest in rig to ENSCO for US$80 million

Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS) has transferred its entire 75% interest in ENSCO Enterprises Ltd II (JVC) to ENSCO Offshore International Company (ENSCO) for a cash consideration of US$80 million. The JVC is part of an alliance agreement with ENSCO to build, own and operate a jackup rig, ENSCO 106, valued at around US$105 million. The agreement carries an option for ENSCO to purchase Keppel FELS' entire interest in the rig prior to or upon delivery. The consideration is based on the book value of Keppel FELS’ 75% interest in the JVC. Said Mr Choo Chiau Beng, Chairman & CEO of Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M), “Keppel and ENSCO share a win-win relationship that has worked well for both parties. “We are glad that ENSCO has chosen Keppel as its partner of choice to expand their fleet of premium rigs to meet the growing demands in the offshore oil and gas market.” ENSCO 106 is the fifth KFELS B Class jackup to be built and delivered by Keppel FELS. The rig will be deployed to Apache Energy Limited for the North West Shelf field in Australia.

Keppel FELS secures rig order from repeat customer ENSCO

Keppel FELS Ltd, the wholly owned subsidiary of Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd (Keppel O&M), has secured from regular customer ENSCO International Inc (ENSCO) an order to build a KFELS B Class jackup rig for US$ 117.2 million. The rig will be a replacement for ENSCO 64, which was heavily damaged by Hurricane Ivan in September 2004. To be named ENSCO 108, the rig is due for delivery in the first quarter 2007. It is the sister rig to ENSCO 106, now operating in Australia, and ENSCO 107, which Keppel FELS is expected to deliver in late 2005.

Keppel FELS partners ENSCO to build a cost-efficient ultra-deepwater semi

Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS) has secured a contract to build a cost-efficient semisubmersible drilling platform, ENSCO 8500, for a subsidiary of ENSCO International Incorporated (ENSCO). The total project value is approximately US$312 million and is expected to be completed in 32 months. ENSCO has secured for ENSCO 8500 a drilling contract with a consortium of three independent oil companies for operation in the Gulf of Mexico. This agreement is for a four-year primary term with an option for the extension of the term.

Keppel FELS secures repeat ultra-deepwater semisubmersible order from ENSCO

Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS) has secured a repeat order for an ultra-deepwater semisubmersible drilling rig from a wholly-owned subsidiary of ENSCO International Incorporated (ENSCO). The total project value is approximately US$338 million. The semi is scheduled for delivery in the first quarter 2009. To be named ENSCO 8501, this rig is similar to the first semi, ENSCO 8500, which ENSCO ordered with Keppel FELS in September 2005. Both semis will have the capability of drilling in water depths of up to 8,500 ft, and can be readily upgraded to 10,000 ft water-depth if required. Each rig is fitted with a DPS2 dynamic positioning system, eight 2600KW thrusters and a single conventional drilling derrick system, with accommodation for up to 150 persons.

Keppel FELS delivers jackup rig ahead of schedule to ENSCO

Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS) has delivered ENSCO 107, a KFELS B Class design jackup drilling rig to ENSCO International Inc (ENSCO) one month ahead of contractual schedule and within budget. The christening ceremony came one day after Keppel FELS and ENSCO inked a new contract for the construction of a US$338 million semisubmersible. The ENSCO 107 is the eighth jackup rig that the Keppel Offshore & Marine group has completed for ENSCO since 1999. It has achieved a clean safety record of zero loss time for its 2,500,000 manhours of work.

Keppel FELS secures third semi contract from ENSCO within a year

Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS) has secured a repeat order for an ultra-deepwater semisubmersible (semi) drilling rig from a wholly-owned subsidiary of ENSCO International Incorporated (ENSCO). The total project value is approximately US$385 million. To be named ENSCO 8502, the semi is scheduled for delivery by the end of 2009. This rig is similar to the first two semis, ENSCO 8500 and ENSCO 8501, which will be delivered in second quarter of 2008 and first quarter of 2009 respectively. Keppel FELS is also building an ultra-high specification jackup rig, ENSCO 108, for ENSCO, and this rig is scheduled for delivery in the second quarter of 2007. All three rigs have firm drilling contracts.

Keppel FELS delivers 9th jackup for ENSCO

Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS) has delivered ENSCO 108, its ninth jackup rig for ENSCO International Inc (ENSCO) on schedule, within budget and with zero loss time incidents. Of this outstanding achievement, Mr Choo Chiau Beng, Chairman & CEO of Keppel Offshore & Marine, said, “Construction of ENSCO 108 was a true mark of the efficiency and precision in project design, management and execution. “ENSCO has been a tremendous supporter of our proprietary designs, and ENSCO 108 is the seventh consecutive rig of the premium KFELS design that we have been commissioned to build since 1999. We are very honoured that ENSCO has entrusted us time and again with delivering some of the most advanced premium offshore rigs in their fleet.” ENSCO 108 was named by Lady Sponsor, Mrs Marcia Hunzeker at a ceremony at Keppel FELS on 24 March 2007. Mrs Hunzeker is wife of Mr Russ Hunzeker, Drilling and Completions Manager of BP Tanguh. ENSCO 108 is built to Keppel’s proprietary KFELS B Class jackup rig design. She is expected to depart the Keppel FELS’ yard in April on her maiden assignment in Indonesia for BP.

Keppel FELS to build fourth ultra-deepwater semi valued at US$427million for ENSCO

Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS) has secured an order for an ultra-deepwater semisubmersible (semi) drilling rig from a wholly-owned subsidiary of ENSCO International Incorporated (ENSCO). The total project value is US$427 million. The semi, ENSCO 8503, will be the fourth semi that Keppel FELS is constructing for ENSCO. It is expected to be delivered in the third quarter of 2010.

Keppel FELS secures order for a US$512 million rig from ENSCO

Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Offshore & Marine Limited (Keppel O&M), has secured a contract to build a US$512 million ultra-deepwater semisubmersible (semi) drilling rig from a subsidiary of ENSCO International Incorporated (ENSCO). To be delivered in the second half of 2011, the ENSCO 8504 will be the fifth consecutive semi that Keppel FELS is constructing for ENSCO. Mr Daniel W. Rabun, Chairman, President and CEO of ENSCO said, “We see the deepwater market as a significant catalyst for our future growth, and we are expanding our deepwater fleet to meet the sustained market demand. “We are very pleased that all five of our new ENSCO 8500 Series® semisubmersible rigs are being built by Keppel FELS. Having constructed all our recent newbuild jackups, Keppel FELS has been the largest contributor in helping us create our premier rig fleet.”

Keppel FELS to build 6th ENSCO semisubmersible rig worth US$537 million

Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS) has won a contract to build a US$537 million ultra-deepwater semisubmersible (semi) drilling rig from a subsidiary of ENSCO International Incorporated (ENSCO). This contract follows shortly after of the award of the fifth semi, ENSCO 8504, that was announced on 6 May 2008. This latest rig, ENSCO 8505, is the sixth consecutive semi of the ENSCO 8500 Series® that Keppel FELS is constructing, and is scheduled for delivery in the first half of 2012. Mr Daniel W. Rabun, Chairman, President and CEO of ENSCO said, “Deepwater has become a very important part of our business. We estimate that our deepwater fleet, including the 8500 Series® semis, will contribute approximately 30% of our total revenue when in operation. “We are pleased that Keppel FELS is constructing all six of our new 8500 Series® semis. We are benefiting from synergies associated with building all these rigs at one yard, and with a partner whom we have a strong working relationship, and who is familiar with our needs.”

Keppel FELS to build seventh ENSCO deepwater rig worth US$560 million

Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS) has won the contract to build the seventh ENSCO 8500 Series® deepwater semisubmersible (semi) worth US$560 million. This sum includes equipment specified by the owner. To be delivered in the second half of 2012, the ENSCO 8506 will be the seventh consecutive semi that Keppel FELS is constructing for ENSCO International Incorporated (ENSCO). The contract follows shortly after the award of the sixth semi, ENSCO 8505, that was announced on 1 June 2008. Mr Daniel W. Rabun, Chairman, President and CEO of ENSCO said, "Working with a leading shipyard that is familiar with our needs will enable us to advance our deepwater strategy more effectively. “As we continue to execute on our strategy to expand our deepwater presence, we again look forward to working with Keppel FELS on this important project. Our US$3.1 billion investment in the ENSCO 8500 Series® rigs demonstrates our commitment to playing a meaningful role in the growing deepwater market. Only two other companies will have ultra-deepwater semisubmersible rig fleets equal to the size of the ENSCO fleet."

Keppel FELS delivers 2nd 8500 Series® semi to Ensco

Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS) has delivered ENSCO 8501, the second of seven ENSCO 8500 Series® ultra-deepwater semisubmersibles (semis) being built for a subsidiary of longtime customer, Ensco International Incorporated (NYSE:ESV) (Ensco). ENSCO 8501 is contracted for operations in the Gulf of Mexico over a period of 3 1/2 years. Keppel FELS delivered the first deepwater rig of this Series, ENSCO 8500, in September 2008.

Keppel to deliver third ENSCO 8500 Series® ultra deepwater semisubmersible on time and within budget

Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS) is on track to deliver ENSCO 8502, the third of seven ENSCO 8500 Series® semisubmersible drilling rigs it has been contracted to build exclusively for Ensco International Incorporated (NYSE: ESV). Today, the rig was named at Keppel FELS by Lady Sponsor, Mrs Cambria Reinsborough, wife of Mr Brian Reinsborough, President of Nexen Petroleum USA Inc, in the presence of Guest of Honour, Mr Heng Chee How, Singapore’s Minister of State, Prime Minister’s Office. Following her scheduled delivery, mobilisation and final outfitting, ENSCO 8502 will commence operations in the US Gulf of Mexico under a two-year contract with Nexen Petroleum U.S.A. Inc. during the second quarter of 2010.

Keppel FELS delivers first rig of 2010 on time and within budget

Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS) has delivered ENSCO 8502, the third of seven ENSCO 8500 Series® semisubmersible (semi) drilling rigs it has been contracted to build exclusively for Ensco International (NYSE:ESV). Delivered seven days ahead of schedule, ENSCO 8502 is on track to commence operations in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico in the second quarter of 2010, under a two-year contract with Nexen Petroleum U.S.A. Inc. with term extension options. The early completion was a culmination of progressive productivity gains achieved by Keppel FELS on the construction of the Series. Construction lead time for ENSCO 8502 was reduced by 1.1 million manhours, as compared to the first rig in the Series. This represents a 15% boost in efficiency.

Keppel AmFELS sets perfect track record with first Rowan rig

Keppel AmFELS Inc., the US wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Offshore & Marine Limited (Keppel O&M), has delivered the first of four EXL rigs to Rowan Drilling Company, Inc. (Rowan) safely, on time and within budget. The rig, christened Rowan EXL I at the yard last Saturday, is expected to be deployed for work immediately after delivery to serve a 10-month contract with McMoRan Exploration Company in the US Gulf of Mexico.

Keppel to deliver fourth ENSCO 8500® Series deepwater rig on schedule

Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS) is on track to deliver ENSCO 8503, the fourth of seven ENSCO 8500 Series® semisubmersible drilling rigs being built exclusively for Ensco plc (NYSE: ESV). ENSCO 8503 is scheduled to commence a two-year primary term with Cobalt International Energy, L.P. in the Gulf of Mexico in early 2011.

Keppel AmFELS maintains perfect track record with second Rowan rig

Keppel AmFELS L.L.C., the U.S. wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Offshore & Marine Limited (Keppel O&M), is on track to deliver the second of four EXL rigs to Rowan Drilling Companies, Inc. (Rowan) on time, within budget and with zero lost-time incidents. The rig, christened Rowan EXL-II last Friday, is scheduled for delivery on 31 August and will depart the Keppel AmFELS yard within the next month. It is expected to be deployed to Trinidad for three years under contract with BP Trinidad and Tobago.

Keppel delivers North Sea-compliant dual-capability high-specification jack-up to Rowan

Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS) has delivered the first of three KFELS N-Class jack-up rigs being built for Rowan Companies, Inc. (Rowan) (NYSE: RDC) safely, on time and within budget. Built to the proprietary KFELS N-Class design, this new-generation rig is the largest jack-up to be constructed in Singapore. This rig design is the brainchild of Keppel's R&D arm, Offshore Technology Development (OTD), following Keppel's extensive experience in constructing rigs for the North Sea region since 1985. The North Sea region is one of the world's toughest operating environments for offshore exploration and production.

Keppel AmFELS delivers third Rowan rig ahead of schedule

Keppel AmFELS Inc., a wholly-owned US subsidiary of Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd (Keppel O&M), has delivered the third of four EXL jackup rigs to a subsidiary of Rowan Companies, Inc. (Rowan) ahead of schedule and within budget. The jackup was christened Rowan EXL-III yesterday by Mrs Barbara Ladner, spouse of Mr Laron Ladner, Operations Construction Manager and employee of 41 years for Rowan. The rig is scheduled to depart Keppel AmFELS' yard in Brownsville, Texas in January 2011 to commence operations on an ultra deep gas well for McMoRan Exploration Company in the Gulf of Mexico.

Keppel to deliver fifth ENSCO 8500 Series® ultra-deepwater rig

Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS) is on track to deliver ENSCO 8504, the fifth of seven ENSCO 8500 Series® ultra-deepwater semisubmersible drilling rigs being built exclusively for Ensco plc (NYSE: ESV). Keppel FELS expects to deliver the rig on time, within budget and with no lost time incidents. ENSCO 8504 has been contracted to TOTAL E&P Deep Offshore Borneo B.V. for deployment in Brunei.

Keppel on track to deliver third harsh environment N-Class rig to Rowan

Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS) is on track to deliver its third KFELS N-Class jack-up rig to Rowan Companies, Inc. (Rowan) (NYSE: RDC) on time and within budget. The KFELS N-Class combines state-of-the-art design with the dual capabilities of performing drilling and production activities efficiently and safely. Equipped to operate in some of the harshest offshore environments in the world, Rowan Norway has been chartered to Xcite Energy for work in the severe conditions of the UK North Sea.

Keppel AmFELS delivers fourth consecutive Rowan rig ahead of schedule

Keppel AmFELS LLC, a wholly owned US subsidiary of Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd (Keppel O&M), has completed the delivery of its fourth EXL jack-up rig to a subsidiary of Rowan Companies, Inc. (Rowan) (NYSE: RDC) with a perfect safety record, four months ahead of schedule and within budget. The jack-up rig was christened Rowan EXL-IV yesterday by Ms. Mary J. Dunaway and Ms. Audra M. Williamson, daughters of Mr. Johnnie Huckabay, one of Rowan's senior rig managers. The rig was delivered on September 1, 2011 and is scheduled to depart Keppel AmFELS' yard in Brownsville, Texas in October 2011.

Keppel to build third Super A Class jackup for Ensco at US$245 million

Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS) has secured a contract to build an enhanced KFELS Super A Class harsh environment jackup rig from Ensco plc (NYSE: ESV) for US$245 million. The rig is scheduled for delivery in 3Q 2014. This contract arose from the exercise of an option which was part of Ensco's order of two KFELS Super A Class rigs on 10 February 2011.

Keppel to deliver sixth ultra-deepwater semi to Ensco over the past 42 months

Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS) is on course to deliver ENSCO 8505, the sixth of seven ENSCO 8500 Series® ultra-deepwater semisubmersible (semi) drilling rigs to Ensco (NYSE: ESV) safely, on time and within budget. The rig is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2012 with zero lost-time incidents in over five million man-hours worked. Upon completion, ENSCO 8505 is contracted in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico with Anadarko, Apache and Noble Energy.

Keppel to deliver seventh ultra-deepwater semi to Ensco

Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS) is set to deliver ENSCO 8506, the seventh semisubmersible (semi) drilling rig in the ultra-deepwater ENSCO 8500 Series® to Ensco (NYSE: ESV) safely, on time and within budget. ENSCO 8506 has been contracted to Anadarko Petroleum Corporation for deployment in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico in 4Q 2012.

Tangiers Petroleum prepares to spud TAO-1 well

Tangiers Petroleum (Tangiers) expects the TAO-1 exploration well offshore Morocco to spud on or around June 15th 2014. The well is targeting 190mln barrels of prospective resources, and is being drilled in area with a proven petroleum system. Tangiers expects drilling operations to cost USD73 million in total. The TAO-1 well, will be drilled by Rowan’s ‘Ralph Coffman’ jackup rig. Tangiers has a 25% stake in the TAO well, whilst GALP has 50% and Morocco’s national oil company ONHYM has 25%, though its costs are carried through the exploration phase.

'Rowan Renaissance' recommences Welwitschia drilling

Tower Resources plc (Tower) the AIM-listed Africa-focussed oil and gas exploration company, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Neptune Petroleum (Namibia) Limited (Neptune), is pleased to announce that it has received notification from Repsol Exploration (Namibia) (Pty) Limited "Repsol), the Operator of Namibia PEL0010 (Neptune 30% working interest), that the drilling of Welwitschia-1A re-commenced on the morning of 4th June 2014. Drilling was previously suspended on the 21st May 2014, due to problems associated with the wellhead on the initial exploration well.

Rowan secures contract for fourth drillship

Rowan Companies plc (Rowan) has announced that one of its subsidiaries has entered into a two-year drilling contract for the newbuild ‘Rowan Relentless’ drillship. The contract is with Freeport-McMoRan Oil & Gas LLC (FM O&G) a subsidiary of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc, for operations in the US Gulf of Mexico. The contract is expected to commence in the third quarter of 2015 and will add approximately UDS425 million to Rowan's current contract backlog. The ‘Rowan Relentless’, is the fourth and final drillship in Rowan’s current construction program and is due to be delivered at the end of March 2015. Upon delivery the unit will begin mobilisation to the USA for its contract with FM O&G. The unit is based on the same GustoMSC P10,000 hull design, as Rowan’s other newbuild drillships and is capable of drilling wells to depths of 40,000 feet in water depths up to 12,000 feet. The DP-3 compliant, dynamically positioned drillship will be equipped with retractable thrusters, two readily deployable seven-ram BOP systems, five mud pumps, dual mud systems and a maximum hook-load capacity of 1,250 tons.

Repsol comes up dry with Welwitschia exploration well

Tower Resources plc (Tower) the AIM-listed Africa-focussed oil and gas exploration company, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Neptune Petroleum (Namibia) Limited (Neptune), provides the following update with respect to the Welwitschia-1A well on PEL0010, offshore Namibia. The ‘Rowan Renaissance’ drillship commenced drilling operations on PEL0010 on 23rd April 2014 and the Welwitschia-1A well spud on 1st May 2014. Repsol Exploration (Namibia) (Pty) Limited ("Repsol"), the Operator of Namibia PEL0010 (Repsol 44% working interest, Tower 30% working interest), has confirmed that the firm commitment well reached total depth of 2,454 metres TVDRT (Total Vertical Depth Below Rotary Table). Logging evaluations indicate that the Palaeocene, Maastrichtian and upper Campanian section reservoirs were less well-developed than prognosed and no hydrocarbons were encountered. Drilling has been behind schedule initially owing to late rig-delivery and operational issues during drilling and logging, including the onset of winter weather conditions. Current expectations from the Operator are that costs will now be around 10% in excess of the USD91 million gross firm well budget. The estimated cost of continuing the current well to test the deeper targets, including the Albian, now appears to be as much as a further USD40 million gross. Despite our interest in the deeper targets, with their large potential resources, this raises the question whether it may be better to wait for the full analysis of the current well before deciding whether and where to drill a second well and test the deeper targets with the benefit of that further information. As a result, the Partners have agreed not to drill further at this time and to evaluate the information and its implications for the Block. The well is being plugged and abandoned.

'Atwood Orca' spuds Rojana-A exploration well in Thailand

KrisEnergy Ltd. (KrisEnergy) an independent upstream oil and gas company announces that the ‘Atwood Orca’ jack-up rig has commenced the drilling of the Rojana-A exploration commitment well in block G11/48 in the Gulf of Thailand, where the joint-venture partners are developing the Nong Yao oil field. Water depth at the Rojana-A location is 232 feet (70.6m). The well is planned to be drilled to a total depth of 4,828 feet measured depth (-4,068 feet total vertical depth subsea) and will evaluate a series of stacked sandstone reservoirs of Miocene age. Chris Gibson-Robinson, KrisEnergy’s Director Exploration & Production, commented: “Rojana-A is the first exploration well to be drilled in G11/48 since the successful exploration and ensuing appraisal programs in 2009 and 2010, respectively.” G11/48 covers 3,374 sq km over the southern margin of the Pattani Basin and the northwest margin of the Malay Basin in water depths of up to 75 metres. The contract area contains the Nong Yao oil discovery, which is currently under development and is expected to produce first oil in the first half of 2015. KrisEnergy holds 22.5% working interest in G11/48. Mubadala Petroleum G11 (Thailand) Limited is the operator of the licence with a 67.5% working interest and Palang Sophon Limited holds 10%.

Galp spuds TAO-1 well in Morocco

Tangiers Petroleum (Tangiers) has announced that drilling has begun on the Galp Energia-operated TAO-1 exploration well offshore Morocco. The ‘Ralph Coffman’ jack-up rig will test up to three stacked targets: Assaka in the Upper Jurassic; the main target Trident in the Middle Jurassic and will move on to TMA if the well is deemed a success. It is expected to take around two months to intersect the first two oil horizons. Tangiers owns 25% of the Tarfaya block that’s host to the TAO well, which is targeting a huge hydrocarbon bounty of 758mln barrels of oil equivalent, or 190mln barrels net to the AIM and ASX-listed group. The TAO-1 well is located within a proven petroleum system and is next to Cairn Energy and Genel Cap Juby heavy oil discovery. TAO-1 is the very definition of a company-maker, particularly when you consider the Tangiers has a market capitalisation of just under UK£28 million. A 110-metre oil column was discovered on Cap Juby; however, the crude was of the heavy variety, which is more difficult to extract and transport.

Ithaca Energy pushes forward with Stella development drilling

Ithaca Energy Inc. (Ithaca) announces completion of flow test operations on the third development well on the Stella field, with the well achieving a flow rate of 12,492 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd). Well 30/6a-B1Z (B1) is the third development well drilled on the Stella field. The well was drilled to a total measured depth subsea of 16,185 feet, with a 2,147 foot gross horizontal reservoir section completed in the Palaeocene Andrew sandstone reservoir. The well intersected high quality sands across a net reservoir interval of 2,034 feet, equating to 95% net pay. This compares to 1,312 feet and 2,514 feet in Stella wells A1 and A2, respectively. As with the previous two Stella development wells, a clean-up flow test has been performed on the B1 well in order to effectively remove the drilling fluids used to complete the well and gain additional reservoir data and fluid samples. The well flowed at a maximum rate of 12,492 boepd on a 48/64-inch choke, with the full production potential of the well limited by the capacity of the well test equipment on the drilling rig. Fluid samples show that the oil is of high quality, approximately 45° API. The maximum flow rate of 12,492 boepd comprised 7,565 barrels of oil per day and 29.6 million standard cubic feet per day (MMscf/d) of gas. This compares to the results of the A1 and A2 wells that achieved maximum flow rates of 10,835 boepd and 10,442 boepd, respectively. The test results achieved on the first three Stella development wells have served to de-risk the initial annualised production forecast for the Greater Stella Area hub of approximately 30,000 boepd (100%), 16,000 boepd net to Ithaca. The B1 well is in the process of being suspended. The suspension configuration is such that the well can be brought on to production without the requirement for any further well intervention activity once the FPF-1 is on location and hooked up. Following completion of the well suspension operations the ‘ENSCO 100’ will move on to drilling of the fourth Stella development well from the same drilling centre location. It is anticipated that the well will be completed around the end of the third quarter of 2014.

Mubadala comes up dry with Rojana-1 well in Thailand

KrisEnergy Ltd. (KrisEnergy), an independent upstream oil and gas company, announces that drilling operations have concluded at the Rojana-1 exploration commitment well in block G11/48 in the Gulf of Thailand. Rojana-1, which commenced drilling on 23rd June 2014, reached a total depth at 4,916 feet (1,498.4 metres) measured depth, or -4,126 feet total vertical depth subsea. No significant hydrocarbon shows were detected in the target reservoirs. Water depth at the well location is 230 feet. The well is the final commitment well for the G11/48 licence, where the joint-venture partners are developing the Nong Yao oil field. Nong Yao is expected to commence oil production in the first half of 2015. G11/48 covers 3,374 sq km over the southern margin of the Pattani Basin and the northwest margin of the Malay Basin in water depths of up to 75 metres. The block also contains the Angun and Mantana oil and/or gas discoveries. KrisEnergy holds 22.5% working interest in G11/48. Mubadala Petroleum G11 (Thailand) Limited, the operator, has a 67.5% working interest and Palang Sophon Limited holds 10%. Rojana-A was drilled using the ‘Atwood Orca’ jack-up rig owned by Atwood Oceanics.

Keppel delivers 'ENSCO 122' jackup

Keppel FELS Ltd (Keppel FELS) has delivered ENSCO 122, the third ultra-premium harsh environment ENSCO 120 Series jackup rig, to Ensco plc (Ensco) ahead of schedule. Built to an enhanced version of Keppel's proprietary KFELS Super A Class design, the rig has been contracted to Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij B.V. (NAM), an oil and gas explorer and producer focused in The Netherlands. Enhancements to the design include Ensco's patented Canti-Leverage AdvantageSM technology, which provides cost advantages for customers by allowing them to drill more wells from one location when utilising the enhanced hoisting capacity at the farthest reach of the cantilever. Mr Wong Kok Seng, Managing Director of Keppel Offshore & Marine (Offshore) and Keppel FELS, said, "We are pleased to deliver ENSCO 122, our third ENSCO 120 Series rig to Ensco. Our partnership with Ensco has enabled us to develop next generation rigs that have set industry benchmarks and we believe the KFELS Super A Class will be the standard bearer for rigs of its class in the North Sea. This is our 19th newbuild rig for Ensco and we are committed to support them with strong designs and reliable deliveries as they grow their fleet of high specification rigs."

Tangiers releases brief TAO-1 well update

Tangiers Petroleum (Tangiers) has provided the briefest of updates on the TAO-1 exploration well offshore Morocco, operated by Portuguese explorer Galp Energia. It told investors: “No major operational issues have occurred to date and the well is expected to intersect the Assaka and Trident objectives within 60 days from spud, as previously announced.” It gave no information as to the depth or the formation currently being drilled as TAO-1 has been designated a “tight well”, which means the data is being kept under wraps. Drilling began on June 26th and is targeting a huge hydrocarbon bounty of 758mln barrels of oil equivalent, or 190mln barrels net to the AIM and ASX-listed group. The TAO-1 well is located within a proven petroleum system and is next to the Cairn Energy and Genel Cap Juby heavy oil discovery. The well is the very definition of a company-maker, particularly when you consider the Tangiers has a market capitalisation of just under UKGBP30 million. A 110-metre oil column was discovered on Cap Juby; however, the crude was of the heavy variety, which is more difficult to extract and transport. Tangiers believes, because of the geology of the area, that it has a much better chance than its neighbour of discovering lighter crude.

Santos comes up dry in Vietnam

Santos today announced that alongside its partner Murphy Oil, the Hon Khoai-1 exploration well in Vietnam’s Nam Con Son basin was unsuccessful. The wildcat well was targeting an oil discovery in Block 13/03 and was spudded on the 27th April 2014 and reached a total depth of 2,135 metres. The well has been plugged and abandoned.

TAO-1 well fails to find hydrocarbons

Tangiers Petroleum Limited (Tangiers) provides the following update on the TAO-1 exploration well located in the Tarfaya Offshore Block, Morocco. The TAO-1 exploration well has intersected the shallowest and secondary objective, Assaka. Based on currently available information, no hydrocarbon shows have been encountered. A full petrophysical evaluation of the Assaka objective will be carried out at section TD. Drilling operations continue as planned towards the primary and largest objective, Trident. The TAO-1 exploration well has been designed to test Trident at its optimal location. Tangiers’ interpret that success at Trident is not co-dependent on the results from Assaka.

Dany-1X exploration well strikes dust

The exploration well Dany-1X (5505/17-18), which was spudded in the western part of the Danish North Sea has been announced as a duster, after confirmation was made by the operator that the well did not encounter oil or gas. Dany-1X was drilled as a vertical well with Upper Cretaceous chalk as the objective. The well terminated in Lower Cretaceous claystone at a depth of 2,501 metres below mean sea level. The well was subsequently side tracked in order to acquire core material for geomechanical studies of the Lark Formation. The well was spudded on 4th July 2014 with the jack-up rig ‘ENSCO 72’ at the location 55°24'18.94" N; 05°09'38.02" E , where the water depth is 45 meters. The well is now being plugged and abandoned. Afterwards ‘ENSCO 72’ will be moved to Tyra Southeast B.

ConocoPhillips set to use 'Rowan Norway' for well operations on Ekosfisk

ConocoPhillips has received consent from the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) to use the ‘Rowan Norway’ mobile drilling facility for well operations at Ekofisk 2/4- M in production licence 018. Ekofisk is an oil field lying in 70-75 metres of water in the southern North Sea. The field was produced to tankers until a concrete storage tank was installed in 1973. Since then, the field has been further developed with many facilities, including riser facilities for associated fields and export pipelines. The operation is scheduled to start in August 2014. ‘Rowan Norway’ is a jack-up drilling facility built in 2011 at Keppel FELS in Singapore. It is registered in Panama and classified by DnV. The facility received Acknowledgement of Compliance (AoC) on 21 December 2012. The PSA has now granted ConocoPhillips consent in accordance with the application.

BP drills duster in Gulf of Mexico

Noble Energy, Inc. (Noble) today announced that the Bright exploration well in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico reached the targeted Upper and Middle Miocene objectives and did not encounter hydrocarbons. Drilled to a total depth of 13,500 feet on Atwater Valley 362, the well has now been plugged and abandoned. Full well assessment and the integration of drilling results into the Company's geologic models is ongoing to determine forward exploration plans on the recently acquired Atwater Valley acreage. Susan Cunningham, Senior Vice President, Gulf of Mexico, West Africa, and Frontier, said, "While we are disappointed with the results of the Bright well, we remain extremely encouraged by the recent success of our exploration program in the Gulf. We look forward to results at our Katmai and Dantzler exploration wells later this month." BP Exploration & Production Inc. operated the well with 50 percent working interest and Noble Energy had the remaining 50 percent. The Company expects third quarter 2014 exploration expense to remain within guidance of USD150 to USD250 million.

'Rowan Viking' receives AoC in Norway

The ‘Rowan Viking’ jack-up facility has received Acknowledgement of Compliance (AoC) from the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA). It is the PSA's assessment that petroleum activities may be carried out using the ‘Rowan Viking’ facility within the regulatory framework. The validity of this Acknowledgement of Compliance assumes that Rowan Norway Limited ensures that the facility and relevant parts of the company’s organisation and management systems are maintained, to fulfil terms and conditions set out in the PSA’s decision.

Atwood Oceanics takes delivery of 'Atwood Achiever'

Atwood Oceanics, Inc. (Atwood) announced today the delivery of the ‘Atwood Achiever’ from the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd. (DSME) shipyard in South Korea. The ‘Atwood Achiever’ has commenced the mobilization phase of its drilling services contract with Kosmos Energy and is expected to arrive in Northwest Africa in early December to conduct a three-year exploration drilling program. Rob Saltiel, Atwood Oceanics President and CEO, commented, "We are very pleased to take delivery of the ‘Atwood Achiever’, the second of our four 'A-Class' ultra- deepwater drillships, from the DSME shipyard. We are eager to begin drilling operations for Kosmos and to demonstrate the extensive capabilities and efficiencies of this state-of-the-art drilling vessel."

Lundin receives consent to use 'Rowan Viking' on Edvard Grieg field

Lundin Norway AS has received consent from the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway to use ‘Rowan Viking’ to drill production wells on the Edvard Grieg field. Lundin Norway AS is the operator on the Edvard Grieg field in block 16/1 in the central North Sea, around 45 km south of the Grane and Balder fields and 180 km west of Stavanger. Water depth at the site is around 110 metres. The PSA has now given Lundin consent to use the ‘Rowan Viking’ mobile drilling facility to drill 15 wells for production and water injection. Drilling will last until autumn 2017, with a break in summer 2015 while the seabed facilities are installed.

Ithaca successfully drills fourth development well on Stella field

Ithaca Energy Inc. (Ithaca) announces the successful completion of flow test operations on the fourth development well on the Stella field, with the well achieving a flow rate of 12,005 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Well 30/6a-B2Z (B2) is the fourth development well drilled on the Stella field. The well was drilled to a total measured depth subsea of 14,461 feet, with a 2,396 foot gross horizontal reservoir section completed in the Palaeocene Andrew sandstone reservoir. The well intersected high quality sands across a net reservoir interval of 1,658 feet, equating to 69% net pay. As with the previous three Stella development wells, a clean-up flow test was performed on the B2 well in order to effectively remove the drilling fluids used to complete the well. As part of the testing programme the well was flowed at various rates over approximately a 38-hour flowing period in order to obtain additional data and fluid samples from its location on the crest of the structure to assist with reservoir management planning for the field. A maximum flow test was completed during the period, with the well flowing at a rate of 12,005 boepd on a 48/64-inch choke. This rate comprised 5,901 barrels of oil per day and 36.6 million standard cubic feet per day of gas. Fluid samples show that the oil is approximately 47° API. The B2 well is currently in the process of being suspended, with operations scheduled to be completed by the end of the month. The suspension configuration is such that the well can be brought on to production without the requirement for any further well intervention activity once the “FPF-1” floating production facility is on location and hooked up. Upon completion of operations on the B2 well the ‘ENSCO 100’ will be moved approximately three kilometres to the Main Drill Centre to drill a fifth well on the field, in the Stella Ekofisk reservoir that underlies the main Stella Andrew reservoir. The Ekofisk well is targeting light oil production in a chalk formation. The characteristics of the formation mean that initial production rates are likely to be lower than those displayed by the wells in the Andrew sandstone reservoir. Completion of the fifth well, which is expected to be in early 2015, will mark the end of the planned Stella development drilling campaign. Following completion of the B2 well suspension operations, four Stella Andrew reservoir development wells will have been completed, with the combined maximum clean-up flow test results achieved by the wells being in excess of 45,000 boepd. This well production capacity significantly de-risks the initial annualised production forecast for the Greater Stella Area hub of approximately 30,000 boepd (100%), 16,000 boepd net to Ithaca.

Saudi Aramco awards new contract extensions to four Ensco jackups

2014 has been a busy year in terms of rig contracting for Saudi Arabian NOC ‘Saudi Aramco’ as the operator continues to contract units to meet its future rig requirements. Following on from the three year contract extensions awarded to Rowan Companies (“Rowan”) Hank Boswell, Scooter Yeargain and Rowan Mississippi jackups in September 2014, Saudi Aramco has awarded similar extensions to four Ensco Plc (“Ensco”) jackups in October 2014. In its latest fleet report Ensco announced that the ENSCO 76, ENSCO 84, ENSCO 96 and ENSCO 97 have all been awarded new three year contract extensions with the NOC at higher rates than their existing contracts. With these four new contract extensions the NOC has a minimum of 25 rigs contracted beyond the end of 2016, all of which are jackups.

OMV reports first oil from redevelopment of Maari project

OMV is pleased to announce first oil from its Maari redevelopment drilling campaign in New Zealand. The Maari redevelopment drilling campaign in New Zealand, also known as the Maari Growth project, aims to increase reserves, production and recovery from the producing Maari field. The well, known as MR-8A, was started on November 28 producing from a previously undrained compartment in the Maari field. The well was side-tracked out of an abandoned injection well and drilled horizontally into the Moki formation to a total length of 3,824 m. The production capacity for this well has been estimated at 4,500 barrels of oil per day (gross). Jaap Huijskes, OMV Executive Board member responsible for Exploration and Production: "It is a great achievement to revitalize an existing field. Conditions in the Tasman Sea are challenging and remote but the team has been able to safely deliver the project. Additional production from Maari through existing facilities will greatly improve efficiency and reduce operating cost per barrel." In April 2014, the offshore drilling rig Ensco 107 was installed in the field carrying out abandonment, workover and drilling operations. The first well was drilled into the untapped Mangahewa formation and has been suspended to implement a revised completion concept. The MR-8A well is the second in the campaign. The Maari Growth campaign includes drilling of five wells into producing and new reservoirs. Total investment of OMV will be around EUR 205 mn and the campaign is expected to be completed by mid-2015. The Maari field is located in a water depth of 100 m, around 80 km off the Taranaki coast of New Zealand. The field was developed by OMV New Zealand as operator of the Maari Joint Venture (JV) and began production in February 2009. The field production has since declined from peak rates of approx. 25,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (net to OMV).

Repsol completes drilling of Sandia-1 well

Repsol has announced that the company has completed the drilling of an exploration well in the Canary Islands. On 11th January, a total depth of 3,093 metres (882 metres of water depth and 2,211 metres of subsoil) was reached and the collection of data on the traversed geological formations was completed. The well will be sealed throughout the next week under the strictest safety protocols, the same that have been applied during the entire exploratory drilling campaign. Around 750 professionals from over 50 companies have worked on the research project, applying the highest safety and environmental protection standards at all times. At the start of this campaign, Repsol estimated the possibility of finding hydrocarbons at between 15% and 20%. The company carried out the campaign in the belief that a discovery of hydrocarbons would be beneficial for the Spanish economy. The excellence of all operations related to this campaign was achieved thanks to the deployment of top professionals – not only from Repsol, but also from other contracted companies, some of them from the Canary Islands – and the use of cutting-edge technology such as the Rowan Renaissance dynamically-positioned UDW drillship, which was supported by four other vessels. Repsol has great experience in offshore exploration. The company’s reserve replacement ratio (the amount of reserves added by the company compared to the production) was 204% in 2012 and 275% in 2013, among the highest in the industry.

Noble announces dry well at Madison prospect

Noble Energy has announced that it failed to discover any commercial hydrocarbons at its Madison prospect well in the US Gulf of Mexico. The well which was drilled to a total depth of 16,859 feet on Mississippi Canyon 479 has now been plugged and abandoned and the ENSCO 8501 drilling rig has been released. Noble spud the well in mid-October and had the ENSCO 8501 chartered at a rate around USD352,000 a day.

RWE plugs Crosgan appraisal well

Sterling Resources Ltd (“Sterling”) has released an update on the Crosgan appraisal well 42/15b-3 in the UK Southern North Sea. The well has reached a total depth of 8,401 feet measured depth and has encountered gas bearing sands in the Carboniferous Yoredale Formation with 35 feet of pay in the targeted Whitby Sandstone and a further 26 feet of pay in various shallow sands within the overlying upper Carboniferous section. The well has encountered a gas-down-to (GDT) deeper than the gas-water contact observed in the offset 42/10b-2z well drilled in 1995. The Whitby formation, however, was encountered 265 feet deep to prognosis and the sand thickness is less than expected for the well. On completion of logging activities currently in progress, the well will be plugged and abandoned. Sterling Resources UK plc holds a 30% interest in the Crosgan Licence.

'ENSCO 104' spuds SP-1X well in Myanmar

Maurel & Prom is participating in the drilling of an offshore exploration well in Myanmar. The SP-1X exploration well, on Block M2 and operated by PetroVietnam Exploration & Production (“PVEP”), was spudded on 27th December 2014 and should last at least two months. PVEP contracted the ENSCO 104 jackup rig to drill the well.

Ensco stacks three jackups and announces contract cancellation for 'ENSCO 70'

Ensco Plc (“Ensco”) has announced that it is preparing to cold stack three US Gulf of Mexico (“GoM”) jackup rigs on the back of lower utilisation and oil price declines. In its fleet report update for February 2015, Ensco indicated that stacking operations have begun for the ENSCO 81, ENSCO 82 and ENSCO 99 jackup rigs. The cold stacking of the three units means that Ensco will now have a total of 10 units cold stacked including, four semisubs, one drillship and five jackups. Meanwhile the rig manager also announced that its Ensco 70 jackup had its future contract with Maersk Oil in Denmark cancelled due to delays associated with the unit’s previous contract with RWE Dea. The Ensco 70 is now ready stacked in the UK while Ensco market the unit for further work.

Kosmos set to plug and abandon CB-1 well in Morocco

Kosmos Energy (“Kosmos”) announced today that the CB-1 exploration well located in the Cap Boujdour permit area offshore Western Sahara encountered hydrocarbons. The well penetrated approximately 14 meters of net gas and condensate pay in clastic reservoirs over a gross hydrocarbon bearing interval of approximately 500 meters. The discovery is non-commercial, and the well will be plugged and abandoned. Andrew G. Inglis, chairman and chief executive officer, said: “The CB-1 exploration well was designed to open the frontier Laâyoune Basin by testing the Al Khayr Prospect. While not a commercial find, this first well in the basin has significantly de-risked further exploration by demonstrating a working petroleum system, including the presence of a hydrocarbon charge, as well as effective trap and seal. The well results confirm the substantial exploration potential of our 22,000 square kilometer Cap Boujdour block, which includes a diverse range of independent plays and fairways with multiple prospects. Going forward, the key exploration challenge is finding reservoirs of commercial size and quality. We will analyse the information gathered from CB-1 and integrate it with the additional 3D seismic data we recently acquired to refine our exploration plan, including deciding on the location and timing of a potential second well. The Atwood Achiever drillship will now proceed to Mauritania as planned to test the Tortue Prospect.” Located approximately 170 kilometers offshore in 2,135 meters of water, the CB-1 well was drilled on plan to a total depth of 5,700 meters at a net cost to Kosmos of approximately $85 million. Kosmos has held rights to conduct exploration activities in the Cap Boujdour permit area since 2006 under a petroleum agreement with the Government of Morocco’s Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (ONHYM). Kosmos operates the Cap Boujdour license with 55 percent equity and is joined by its partners ONHYM (25 percent) and Capricorn Exploration and Development Company Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cairn Energy PLC (20 percent). The Atwood Achiever is set to drill the MZ-1 exploration well in Morocco under sublet for Freeport-McMoRan Oil & Gas, with drilling operations expected to begin in late March 2015.

'Atwood Achiever' to spud MZ-1 well in April 2015

Pura Vida Energy NL (“Pura Vida”) has advised that based on the current rig schedule, the company now expects the Atwood Achiever Drillship to mobilise to the MZ-1 location within Pura Vida’s offshore Mazagan Permit and spud the well during April 2015 instead of March 2015. In accordance with the schedule provided in the company’s December quarterly report, it is advised that the Atwood Achiever has completed a well offshore Morocco and has now moved to briefly complete a well offshore Mauritania for another Operator before returning to handover to the Mazagan joint venture. MZ-1 will target the Ouanoukrim prospect, which has total gross unrisked mean prospective resources of over 1.4 billion barrels, with a high case of over 3.0 billion barrels (refer to ASX announcement of 17 December 2014). Pura Vida is carried for its’ 23% interest in the MZ-1 well for up to USD215 million.

Atwood Oceanics Reports on Status of Atwood Osprey

Atwood Oceanics, Inc. (NYSE: ATW) announced today that its semisubmersible drilling unit, the Atwood Osprey, parted several mooring lines and drifted approximately three nautical miles from its original position during Cyclone Olwyn, which impacted the northwest coast of Australia on March 12th. The rig is currently stable with a support vessel in position, and preliminary results indicate minimal damage with an estimated maximum of 30 days out of service time for repairs. No rig personnel were injured in the event. The Atwood Osprey is contracted to Chevron Australia Pty. Ltd. and was on location at the Iago 1B well. The well had been shut down and secured in accordance with Chevron's cyclone demobilization procedures and the rig had ballasted down and evacuated all its rig personnel in advance of the cyclone. Atwood Oceanics is coordinating its efforts with Chevron, the Australian offshore regulator (NOPSEMA) and other affected parties.

BP cuts short another US GoM rig contract

Ensco Plc. (“Ensco”) has announced that it has received an early notice of termination for the ENSCO DS-4, a drillship operating in the US Gulf of Mexico (“GoM”) for BP. Under the terms of the termination notice, the estimated effective date of contract termination is July 2015, following completion of the BP’s current well. Under the terms of the early termination notice, BP is required to make a lump sum payment of USD160 million to cover the period from estimated termination through to the originally contracted expiration date of 15th July 2016. Ensco will market the ENSCO DS-4 following the completion of the contract in July 2015. This early termination notice follows BP’s similar decision to terminate the contract for Seadrill’s West Sirius semisubmersible drilling rig. Both units are currently operating in the US GoM, where BP must have decided that it is oversupplied in terms of drilling rig capacity.

Atwood Oceanics announces potential drillship delivery delays

Atwood Oceanics Inc. (“Atwood”) has announced that the company has secured options to potentially delay the delivery of its two uncontracted newbuild drillships. Atwood has options to delay the delivery of the Atwood Admiral up until September 2016 whilst it can delay delivery of the Atwood Archer until June 2017. The announcement of the possible delivery delays was released in the company’s latest fleet status report.

Manora development drilling completed

Tap Oil Limited (“TAP”) has provided an update on Manora production and development drilling at the Manora Oil Development in the Northern Gulf of Thailand (TAP 30% interest). All eleven Manora development wells have been successfully completed and the Atwood Orca drilling rig has now moved off location. Manora is now producing from six wells: MNA-01, MNA-02, MNA-03, MNA-05, MNA-07 and MNA-08 with MNA-11 expected to commence production this week. Manora has been producing above 15,000 bopd (gross), and on occasion above 16,000 bopd (gross) since the six wells have been in production. MNA-01 and MNA-02 started production on 11th November 2014, with MNA-03 following a day later. MNA-05 started production on 23rd November 2014. All of these wells have been completed with ESP pumps, exhibited high productivity as expected, and are producing free of water and sand. Production from the above wells occurs in the Central Fault Block 600 sand reservoirs. MNA-04, MNA-09ST1 and MNA-10 are currently injecting water to support production from 600 reservoir sands in the Central Fault Block. Pressure response due to water injection has already been observed in the Central Fault Block. MNA-07, the first producer well from the East Fault Block, was put on production in early January with a tested rate of 1,332 barrels oil per day (gross) with 40% watercut which has increased to 64% watercut at present. MNA-08 producer well from the East Fault Block started production on 21 February 2015. MNA-08 is currently producing oil at the rate of 2,377 barrels oil per day (gross) with 14% watercut. The last two wells, MNA-11 producer from the Central Fault Block and MNA-13 water injector in the East Fault Block have been successfully drilled to final Total Depth. MNA-11 intersected highest net oil pay count (98m) in 600 reservoir sands of any of the wells. This confirms the Operator’s geological model of thicker sands in the centre of the Central Fault Block. MNA-11 is expected to commence production this week and MNA-13 has been completed and is currently injecting water to support production from the East Fault Block. Following a review of the results from the development drilling programme, the Manora joint venture agreed that two wells (one producer and one injector) are no longer required and also to defer two producer wells. The development plan had previously forecast up to 15 development wells (10 producers and 5 injectors). The Operator (Mubadala Petroleum) has confirmed that peak production of 15,000 barrels per day (gross) has now been achieved and can be maintained with only 7 producer wells (instead of the original 10 producer wells).

PSA carries out audit of 'Rowan Norway' jackup

From 27th January to 5th February 2015, the Petroleum Safety Authority (“PSA”) Norway carried out an audit of Rowan Norway Ltd's management of major accident risk and systems for barrier management on Rowan Gorilla VI (“RGVI”). The objective of the audit was to monitor that Rowan has implemented a system to fulfil the regulatory requirements for risk management. The audit resulted in that non-conformities were identified in connection with; maintenance systems, personnel training, MOB boat preparedness, governing documentation and choke valve. In addition, improvement points were identified in connection with; emergency preparedness analysis, system for performing and following up drills, securing of equipment, system for ensuring competence of new personnel, competence requirements for performance of work operations, response team routines, valves in the drilling fluid system and air cylinders for smoke divers.

Chevron cuts 'Atwood Osprey' contract by one year

Atwood Oceanics, Inc. (“Atwood”) has announced that the company has entered into an amendment to its contract for its semisubmersible drilling unit, the Atwood Osprey. As previously disclosed, the Atwood Osprey parted several mooring lines and drifted approximately three nautical miles from its original position during Cyclone Olwyn, which impacted the northwest coast of Australia on March 12th, 2015. The duration of the force majeure event and resultant repairs necessitated by the damage incurred from the cyclone have triggered termination rights in relation to which the parties have agreed to a reduction in the term of the contract by one year with contractual rates remaining unchanged. It is expected that repairs for damage sustained by the rig and required regulatory approvals will be completed by April 30, 2015.

Saudi Aramco reduces wave of jackup rates

Both Ensco Plc. (“Ensco”) and Rowan Companies Plc. (“Rowan”) have announced agreements with Saudi Aramco to reduce dayrates for a combined 12 jackups (five Rowan jackups and seven Ensco jackups). The wave of rate reductions for Rowan’s five units began on the 1st March 2015 and will last 12 months until 1st March 2016. Meanwhile the reductions for Ensco’s began in April 2015 and run until January 2016. Rates have been reduced from 9% up to 32% in some cases for the 12 jackups. The announcement of rate reductions for these units is expected to be echoed by other rig managers that have units on contract with Saudi Aramco.

Kosmos makes significant gas find

Kosmos Energy (“Kosmos”) has announced that the Tortue-1 exploration well, drilled to test the Tortue West prospect, which forms part of the Greater Tortue Complex, in Block C-8 offshore Mauritania has made a significant, play-opening gas discovery. Based on the preliminary analysis of drilling results and intermediate logging to a depth of 4,630 meters, Tortue-1 has intersected 107 meters (351 feet) of net hydrocarbon pay. A single gas pool was encountered in the primary Lower Cenomanian objective. The Lower Cenomanian is comprised of three excellent quality multi-Darcy reservoirs totaling 88 meters (288 feet) in thickness over a gross hydrocarbon bearing interval of 160 meters (528 feet). A fourth zone 19 meters (62 feet) thick was penetrated within the secondary Upper Cenomanian target over a gross hydrocarbon bearing interval of 150 meters (492 feet). Andrew G. Inglis, chairman and chief executive officer, said: “Volumetrically, the Tortue-1 well has far exceeded our pre-drill expectations and has discovered a large scale gas resource. Our seismic imaging indicates the areal extent of Tortue West could cover approximately 90 square kilometres that will be better defined with appraisal drilling. Importantly, given the results and excellent well-to-seismic calibration, the Tortue-1 well has significantly de-risked our large and under-explored 27,000 square kilometre deepwater position in Mauritania. Our acreage offers substantial follow-on prospectivity including a diverse range of Cenomanian as well as deeper Cretaceous plays and fairways with strong dependency.” An appraisal program is being planned to delineate the Tortue West discovery. In addition, the Marsouin-1 exploration well, located in the central part of Block C-8, is expected to spud in the third quarter of 2015. An exploration program is also being formulated to test the other prospects in the Greater Tortue Complex, which extends into the St. Louis Offshore Profond Block in Senegal, including the Tortue East and Tortue North prospects. In support of this program, a 3D seismic survey acquired over our Senegal blocks in 2014 is currently being processed and interpreted. Located approximately 285 kilometres southwest of Nouakchott in 2,700 meters of water, and drilled with the Atwood Achiever drillship, the Tortue-1 well is now drilling to the planned total depth of approximately 5,250 meters. Kosmos currently owns a 90% interest in the Tortue Prospect, along with Société Mauritanienne Des Hydrocarbures et de Patrimoine Minier (SMHPM) at 10 percent. Since 2012, Kosmos has held rights to conduct exploration in the C-8, C-12 and C-13 contract areas under production sharing contracts with the Government of Mauritania. In March 2015,Chevron Mauritania Exploration Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX), acquired a 30% non-operated interest in the C-8, C-12 and C-13 contract areas under production sharing contracts. Chevron has an option to elect to participate at a 30% interest in the Tortue Prospect, subject to Chevron paying a disproportionate share of their costs related to the Tortue-1 exploration well. The blocks are contiguous, range in water depth between 1,000 and 3,000 meters, and have combined acreage of approximately 27,000 square kilometers.

NDC contracts two premium jackups from Ensco for Abu Dhabi (UAE) drilling

Ensco plc (“Ensco”) has announced that it has entered into a three-year contract with National Drilling Company (“NDC”) for the ENSCO 110 jackup rig. This newbuild rig is scheduled to commence operations later this month offshore Abu Dhabi (UAE) at a rate of approximately USD114,000 per day. NDC has also contracted ENSCO 104 for a similar three-year term at a day rate of USD114,000. The rig is mobilising to the Middle East from the Asia Pacific region and is scheduled to commence its new contract in late-June 2015. Chief Executive Officer Carl Trowell commented, “We are pleased to extend our relationship with NDC. The Middle East is the largest market for premium jackups, and we continue to invest in new rig technology for the benefit of customers. ENSCO 110 is based on the Keppel FELS B Class Bigfoot design, which is capable of working at water depths up to 400 feet with a maximum drilling depth of 30,000 feet. The rig has a nominal variable deck load of 7,500 kips and a cantilever load of 2,500 kips. It includes a 1.5 million-pound derrick, TDS-8 top drive and 4-ram 15,000-psi BOP. Ensco customized the rig to add dual drilling fluid capability and upgraded the living quarters to accommodate 150 persons on board. ENSCO 104 is based on the KFELS Class B design. The rig operates in water depths up to 400 feet with a maximum drilling depth of 30,000 feet. The rig has a variable deck load of 8,025 kips and a cantilever load of 1,675 kips. It includes a 1.5 million-pound derrick, TDS-8 top drive and 4-ram 10,000-psi BOP.

Atwood delays delivery of 'Atwood Admiral'

Atwood Oceanics (“Atwood”) has announced that it has opted to delay the delivery of its newbuild Atwood Admiral drillship from September 2015 until March 2016. Atwood announced a few months ago that it had agreed to potentially push back the delivery of the Atwood Admiral and Atwood Archer drillships from their current delivery schedule amid the slowdown in the offshore drilling market. The unit which is being constructed at Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering’s (“DSME”) shipyard in Okpo, South Korea and Atwood has a further option to delay delivery until September 2016 if required.

Kosmos announces larger discovery at Tortue-1

Kosmos Energy (“Kosmos”) has announced that the Tortue-1 exploration well in Block C8, offshore Mauritania has encountered additional hydrocarbons whilst drilling to its total depth. Based on the preliminary analysis of drilling results, Tortue-1 has intersected approximately 10 meters (32 feet) of net hydrocarbon pay in the lower Albian section, which is currently interpreted to be gas. This is in addition to the previously announced 107 meters (351 feet) of net pay encountered in the Cenomanian, which was the primary objective. The well was drilled beyond the primary objective to obtain deeper stratigraphic information and enable seismic calibration of the Albian, which will be tested in subsequent wells. Down to total depth drilled, no water was encountered in the well. Brian F. Maxted, chief exploration officer, said: “We are encouraged by the presence of additional hydrocarbons in the deeper portion of the well. This suggests we have a working hydrocarbon system in both the Albian and Cenomanian sequences. While the Albian was not the primary objective of the Tortue-1 well, the presence of additional hydrocarbons in the Albian further de-risks other prospects in the Greater Tortue Complex which include primary reservoir targets in both the Albian and underlying Aptian.” Located approximately 285 kilometers southwest of Nouakchott in 2,700 meters of water, and drilled with the Atwood Achiever drillship, the Tortue-1 well was drilled at a total cost of approximately USD125 million to a total depth of approximately 5,100 meters. The Tortue discovery area has also been renamed Ahmeyim. Kosmos currently owns a 90% interest in the Ahmeyim discovery, along with Société Mauritanienne Des Hydrocarbures et de Patrimoine Minier (SMHPM) at 10%.

Rowan announces dayrate reduction and extended term for 'Rowan Gorilla V'

Offshore rig owner Rowan Companies plc (“Rowan”) announced the successful signing of one new contract along with a number of contract extensions. Rowan secured a one-year extension for its Rowan Gorilla V jackup with Total in the UK. The new one year term is accompanied by news that Total and Rowan have agreed to a rate reduction for the unit from USD274k to USD170k covering the period from 1st January 2015 until 31st December 2015. Following this period, the rate will rise to USD175k for the remainder of the contract term in 2016. Elsewhere, the Rowan EXL III jackup was awarded a one-well, 40-day contract with ExxonMobil in the US GoM at a dayrate of USD75k and the Rowan Stavanger and Ralph Coffman units were both awarded 30-day extensions to their existing contracts in the UK and Tunisia.

'Atwood Achiever' spuds MZ-1 well in Morocco

Pura Vida Energy NL (“Pura Vida”) has announced that the Atwood Achiever drillship has successfully spudded the MZ-1 well within the Mazagan permit, offshore Morocco. Freeport-McMoran oil & gas is the operator of the permit. Drilling is expected to take around 2-3 months. The MZ-1 well is targeting the Ouanoukrim prospect which is a series of five stacked targets in both the cretaceous and Jurassic reservoirs. The unit recently completed the Tortue-1 well for Kosmos Energy in Mauritania.

Lundin given approval to drill Edvard Greig SE appraisal well

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has granted Lundin Norway AS a drilling permit for well 16/1-23 S, cf. Section 8 of the Resource Management Regulations. Well 16/1-23 S will be drilled from the Rowan Viking drilling facility at position 58°49’47.04’’ north 02°16’56.00’’ east in production licence 338. The drilling programme for well 16/1-23 S relates to the drilling of an appraisal well in production licence 338. Lundin is the operator with a 50 per cent ownership interest. The other licensees are OMV (Norge) AS with 20 per cent, Statoil Petroleum AS and Wintershall Norge AS, each with 15 per cent. The area in this licence consists of parts of block 16/1. The well will be drilled to the southeast of the Edvard Grieg field in the central part of the North Sea. Production licence 338 was awarded on 17 December 2004 (APA 2004). This is the tenth exploration well to be drilled within the area of this licence. The permit is contingent upon the operator securing all other permits and consents required by other authorities prior to commencing the drilling activity.

Suncor spuds Niobe prospect in the UK

Trapoil (“TRAP”), an independent oil and gas exploration, appraisal and production company focused on the UK Continental Shelf ("UKCS") region of the North Sea, has announced that operations have commenced on the Niobe (Licence P.1889, Blocks 12/26b & 27) exploration prospect ("Niobe"). The well is being drilled using the ENSCO 100 jack up rig and well operations are currently anticipated to last approximately 31 days in the dry hole case. The ENSCO 100 rig left Dundee shipyard on 4th June 2015 and was under tight tow to the Niobe prospect location until the 8th June 2015. The ENSCO 100 successfully spudded the well on the 9th June 2015. Water depth at the drilling location is 181 feet. The partners in Licence P.1889 are Suncor Energy UK Limited, operator (49.5 per cent. equity interest), Norwegian Energy Company UK Limited (22.5 per cent. equity interest) and Trap Oil Limited (28 per cent. equity interest, of which 2.5 per cent. is a carried interest).

Suncor fails to hit at Niobe prospect

Trapoil has announced that Suncor Energy, the operator of the Niobe prospect in Norway has concluded drilling operations on the prospect. The exploration well was drilled to a depth of 5,005 feet Measured Depth Below Rotary Table ("MDRT") or 4,871 feet True Vertical Depth Sub Sea ("TVDSS") within the Late Jurassic Heather Formation and as such has fulfilled the licence obligation. The well achieved its primary target, being the Burns Sandstone Member within the late Jurassic interval. The well penetrated good quality sands although there were no signs of significant hydrocarbons. There are no plans to conduct a drill stem test and the well is to be plugged and abandoned.

Eni extends 'Atwood Beacon' contract

Atwood Oceanics, Inc. (“Atwood”) announced today that one of its subsidiaries had reached an agreement for a six-month extension of its existing contract with Eni S.p.A. (“Eni”) for the jackup rig, Atwood Beacon. The Atwood Beacon commenced its initial two-year drilling services contract with Eni on December 24th 2013, for operations offshore Italy. The agreement revises the day rate to €117,155 (USD129,365), inclusive of equipment upgrade costs, from €135,100 (USD149,180) beginning March 1st, 2015 and extends the Atwood Beacon's firm commitment from December 24th, 2015 through June 2016.

'ENSCO 107' completes drilling operations on Maari Grwoth Project

Horizon Oil (“Horizon”) is pleased to report the successful completion of the Maari Growth Project with the final well, MR10, now in production. The MR10 well has been successfully drilled and completed and, as of 6th July 2015, was flowing approximately 2,000 barrels of oil per day (“bopd”), with daily production of approximately 16,500 barrels of oil per day. The final flow rate for MR10 will be optimised by the Operator, OMV New Zealand, based on engineering data collected as the well continues to stabilise. A total of four new production wells were drilled in the Maari Growth Program using the Ensco 107 jackup rig. The operator of the Maari joint venture anticipates the field’s production capacity to increase to approximately 20,000 bopd with the optimisation of production from MR10 and an upcoming 2015 work-over campaign. The Ensco 107 is now being prepared for demobilisation from the Maari Field. The Maari joint venture’s work-over unit (“WOU”) equipment is being prepared for scheduled load out to the wellhead platform in late July 2015. The WOU will be used to carry out maintenance workovers and other activities such as adding perforations to further enhance production. The work-over campaign is scheduled will commence after the demobilisation of the Ensco 107.

ConocoPhillips cancels 'ENSCO DS-9' contract

Effective today, ConocoPhillips has informed Ensco Plc (“Ensco”) that it has issued a notice of termination for the three-year ENSCO DS-9 drillship contract. Under the terms of the contract, ConocoPhillips is obligated to pay Ensco termination fees monthly for two years equal to the operating day rate of approximately USD550,000, which may be partially defrayed should Ensco re-contract the rig within the next two years and/or mitigate certain costs during this time period while the rig is idle and without a contract. ConocoPhillips is also contractually obligated to reimburse certain costs that Ensco incurs due to the termination of the contract for ConocoPhillips’ convenience. Given these contract terms, Ensco does not anticipate a material negative impact to its financial results for 2015 and 2016 as a result of this termination. ENSCO DS-9 was recently delivered and had been scheduled to commence its initial drilling contract for ConocoPhillips in the fourth quarter of this year.

MZ-1 exploration well disappoints in Morocco

Pura Vida Energy NL (“Pura Vida”) advises that the MZ-1 exploration well has reached a depth of 4,653 metres within the Lower Cretaceous and that wireline logs have been run to evaluate the entire open hole section of the well. Preliminary results from all of the data gathered to date indicates that there is no effective reservoir in either of the secondary objectives in the Cenomanian and Aptian intervals and there were no oil shows encountered. Current operations include running casing, prior to drilling ahead to the firm Total Depth (TD) of 5,600 metres in the Jurassic, to test the primary objectives of the basin floor fans, Fan-1 and Fan-2. After drilling through these targets a decision will be made whether to deepen the well to 6,150 metres to test a third Jurassic fan, Fan-3. Managing Director, Mr Damon Neaves commented: “We are disappointed that the well failed to encounter reservoir in the secondary objectives in the Cretaceous, however we expect to intersect the primary targets in the Jurassic and look forward to reporting those results shortly.”

Lundin successful with Edvard Grieg appraisal

Lundin Petroleum AB (“Lundin”) is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary Lundin Norway AS (“Lundin Norway”) has completed the drilling and logging of appraisal well 16/1-23 S on the Edvard Grieg field in the Norwegian North Sea. The well was located in PL338 and was drilled approximately 2.4 km southeast of the Edvard Grieg platform location. The objectives of the well were to further delineate the south eastern part of the Edvard Grieg field southwestwardly from last year’s successful appraisal well 16/1-18 in order to optimise the drainage strategy and to determine the best possible location for production wells in this area. The well was also testing incremental resource potential in this part of the field. The well encountered a 66 metres gross oil column in pebbly sandstone with medium to good reservoir quality. Extensive data acquisition and sampling is currently ongoing with the initial data results appearing very promising with regard to additional in-place volumes. The integration of these positive well results will be used to optimise the drainage strategy and to determine the best possible location for production wells in this area. Ashley Heppenstall, President and CEO of Lundin Petroleum, comments: “The Edvard Grieg southeast appraisal well has been successful. This well, together with last year’s appraisal well in the same area of the field, will in my opinion result in an increase to the Edvard Grieg reserves at the end of this year. The low incremental cost of developing such barrels will add value to the Edvard Grieg asset.” This is the tenth exploration/appraisal well in PL338 of which seven have been drilled on the Edvard Grieg field. The licence was awarded on 17 December 2004 (APA 2004). The well was drilled to a vertical depth of 2,043 metres below the sea surface and terminated in granite basement. The well will be permanently plugged and abandoned. Water depth at the site is 108 metres. The well was drilled by the jack-up rig Rowan Viking which will return to the Edvard Grieg platform to continue drilling of production and injection wells. Lundin Norway is the operator of PL338 with 50 percent working interest. The partners are OMV Norge AS with 20 percent working interest, Statoil Petroleum AS with 15 percent working interest and Wintershall Norge AS with 15 percent working interest.

No hydrocarbons likely at MZ-1

Pura Vida Energy NL (“Pura Vida”) advises that the MZ-1 exploration well offshore Morocco has drilled through the three prognosed Jurassic fans and the well has reached a final depth of 6,150 metres Sub Sea True Vertical Depth (SSTVD) within Triassic aged sediments and wireline logs are expected to be run shortly. Preliminary results from available drilling data (excluding wireline logs) indicate that no oil shows have been encountered. After completion of wireline logging, the well is expected to be plugged and abandoned as planned. Whilst final costs in relation to the well are not yet available, the Company anticipates costs to be in line with budget expectations. The decision was made by the joint venture to deepen the well to 6,150 metres to intersect the Lower Jurassic source rocks and test Jurassic Fan-3, which has provided valuable information and the ability to fully calibrate all data prior to selection of the location of the second well. Pura Vida’s Managing Director, Mr Damon Neaves commented: “MZ-1 is Pura Vida’s first exploration well and although this result is a set-back, we will now renew our efforts in pursuing the prospectivity in the Mazagan permit with the benefit of the information we have gained from this well. Mazagan represents a large acreage position containing multiple play types and prospects, what we’ve learned from MZ-1 will help us define the best prospect for our next well on the Mazagan permit. We congratulate the Operator for safely and efficiently completing the MZ-1 deep water well. Pura Vida has built a diversified portfolio that ensures a pipeline of future opportunities to create value for our shareholders.” With regards to a second well, PXP Morocco BV, a subsidiary of Freeport-McMoRan Oil & Gas as Operator of the Mazagan permit (Operator), entered into a rig share agreement with Kosmos Energy Ventures for two well slots with the Atwood Achiever deep water drillship to drill two wells in the Mazagan permit. Pura Vida has been advised by the Operator that it has agreed with Kosmos to cancel the second slot under those arrangements. Rates for deep water drillships have fallen sharply since the Atwood Achiever was contracted and the Operator has cancelled the second slot under the rig share agreement in order to contract another vessel to take advantage of the current weakness in market conditions for rigs with the aim to reduce the cost of the second well. 2 Under the farmin agreement between the Operator and Pura Vida entered into in January 2013, the drilling of the second well must be commenced by no later than September 2016. If the joint venture is successful in securing a drillship at a lower rate, the risk of the cost of the two wells exceeding the US$215 million limit on carry under the farmin agreement will be reduced. This will also have the benefit of reducing Pura Vida’s reliance (if any) on the option for an additional carry in excess of the US$215 million limit, thereby reducing the risk that Pura Vida’s equity in the permit will be diluted

Lundin confirms strike at Edvard Greig appraisal

Lundin Norway AS, operator of production licence 338, is in the process of completing the drilling of appraisal well 16/1-23 S on the Edvard Grieg oil field in the central section of the North Sea. Appraisal well 16/1-23 S is drilled 2.4 kilometres southeast of the Edvard Grieg platform. The field was proven in the autumn of 2007 and consists of Cretaceous, Jurassic and Triassic reservoir rocks. Prior to well 16/1-23 S being drilled, the operator's resource estimate for the field was 29.8 million standard cubic metres of recoverable oil. The purpose of the well was to investigate reservoir rocks, reservoir properties and the oil/water contact as regards delineating the south-eastern section of the Edvard Grieg field. In addition, the purpose was to optimise the drainage strategy for the best possible location of production wells in this area. The well 16/1-23 S encountered a total oil column of 67 metres in conglomorate sandstone with moderate to good reservoir quality. The oil/water contact was encountered 1933.5m below the sea surface, which is 5.5 metres shallower than the contact in the rest of the field. Extensive data acquisition and sampling have been carried out. A total of five small-scale formation tests (mini DSTs) have been carried out in the oil and water zone, with test production of one-metre intervals through the drilling string. The tests in the oil zone showed good flow properties, whereas the flow rate was moderate in the water zone. Preliminary calculations show that the results from the well may result in an increase of between 1 and 8 million standard cubic metres recoverable oil in this section of the Edvard Grieg field. Further work is expected to reduce the uncertainty of this estimate. This is the tenth exploration well in production licence 338 and the seventh exploration well on the Edvard Grieg field. The licence was awarded in APA 2004. A Plan for Development and Operation (PDO) for the Edvard Grieg field was submitted to the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy on 16 January 2012. Appraisal well 16/1-23 S is drilled to a measured and vertical depth of 2130 and 2043 metres respectively below the sea surface and terminated in granite bedrock. The well will be permanently plugged and abandoned. Water depth at the site is 108 metres. The well was drilled by the drilling facility Rowan Viking, which now will continue to drill production and injection wells on the Edvard Grieg field.

Atwood Achiever given contract extension

Atwood Oceanics, Inc. (“Atwood”) has announced that, effective today, one of its subsidiaries agreed to a one-year extension and rate adjustment to its existing contract with Kosmos Energy Ventures (“Kosmos”) for the ultra-deepwater rig, the Atwood Achiever. The Atwood Achiever commenced its three-year drilling services contract with Kosmos in November, 2014, for operations offshore Northwest Africa. The agreement adjusts the operating day rate to approximately USD495,500, net of taxes, and extends the contract end date to November, 2018. As part of the agreement, Kosmos has an option, which may be exercised at any time through October 1st, 2016, to revert the contract to the original operating day rate and original end date. Exercising this option will result in a payment that includes the difference in day rates, taxes, and an administrative fee covering the time periods for which the reduced day rate was invoiced.

Atwood Oceanics Announces Contract Extension for the Atwood Orca

Atwood Oceanics, Inc. (NYSE: ATW) announced today that one of its subsidiaries had agreed to a nine-month extension and rate adjustment to its existing contract with Mubadala Petroleum (SE Asia) Limited (“Mubadala Petroleum”) for the ultrapremium jackup, the Atwood Orca, effective November 1, 2015. The Atwood Orca commenced its drilling services contract with Mubadala Petroleum for operations offshore Thailand on April 29, 2013. The extension continues the drilling services until the new contract end date of October 28, 2016. Additionally, the agreement adjusts the operating day rate to approximately $85,000 from November 1, 2015 until the new contract end date.

Atwood Oceanics Announces Contract Extension for the Atwood Advantage

Atwood Oceanics, Inc. (NYSE: ATW) announced today that one of its subsidiaries agreed to an extension and rate adjustment to its existing contract with Noble Energy, Inc. for the ultra-deepwater rig, the Atwood Advantage, effective November 9, 2015. The agreement is to extend the contract for the purposes of a plugging and abandoning four well program in the Gulf of Mexico that has an estimated duration of one hundred and twenty (120) days during the contract term and is anticipated to occur in 2016. This extension adjusts the operating day rate to approximately $240,000 per day only during the four plug and abandon wells and makes the new contract expiry date approximately August 2017.

Atwood Oceanics announces that it has been chosen for exclusive negotiations for one of its drillships under construction

Atwood Oceanics, Inc. (NYSE: ATW) announced today that one of its subsidiaries has received a letter confirming that it has been chosen to enter exclusive negotiations with an undisclosed operator to conclude agreement on a drilling program offshore Brazil commencing in the third quarter of 2017. The letter specifies that either the Atwood Admiral or Atwood Archer, ultra-deepwater drillships currently under construction at the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd yard in South Korea, would be contracted to drill the program. The letter specifies a number of contractual items that have been agreed by the parties, including the commercial rates, well count, minimum term length, and rig acceptance criteria.

Atwood Oceanics announces hat it has been chosen for exclusive negotiations for one of its drillships under construction

Atwood Oceanics, Inc. (NYSE: ATW) announced today that one of its subsidiaries has received a letter confirming that it has been chosen to enter exclusive negotiations with an undisclosed operator to conclude agreement on a drilling program offshore Brazil commencing in the third quarter of 2017. The letter specifies that either the Atwood Admiral or Atwood Archer, ultra-deepwater drillships currently under construction at the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd yard in South Korea, would be contracted to drill the program. The letter specifies a number of contractual items that have been agreed by the parties, including the commercial rates, well count, minimum term length, and rig acceptance criteria.

Kosmos Energy Makes Second Major Gas Discovery Offshore Mauritania

Kosmos Energy (NYSE: KOS) announced today that the Marsouin-1 exploration well, located in the northern part of Block C-8 offshore Mauritania, has made a significant, play-extending gas discovery. This is the company’s second major discovery of 2015. Based on preliminary analysis of drilling and wireline logging results, Marsouin-1 encountered at least 70 meters (230 feet) of net gas pay in Upper and Lower Cenomanian intervals comprised of excellent quality reservoir sands. Located approximately 60 kilometers north of the basin-opening Tortue-1 gas discovery (renamed Ahmeyim), Marsouin-1 was drilled in nearly 2,400 meters of water. “Marsouin-1 is our second major discovery of 2015, extending our 100 percent success rate in the outboard Cretaceous petroleum system offshore Mauritania and Senegal. Well-to-seismic calibration has significantly de-risked the discovered resource base, as well as future prospects in the basin. Importantly, the well results have validated our charge model and given us growing confidence in our ability to predict the oil and gas potential of this emerging, large-scale petroleum system. We have a disciplined exploration and appraisal program planned to further unlock the basin,” said Andrew G. Inglis, chairman and chief executive officer. The Atwood Achiever drillship will now proceed to the Ahmeyim-2 location in the southern part of Mauritania’s Block C-8 where it will drill the top-hole section of the well. The drillship is then expected to sail to Senegal where it will spud Guembeul-1, the first in a series of wells to delineate the Greater Tortue area, before year-end.

Atwood Oceanics announces changes to delivery schedules for two ultra-deep water drillships

Atwood Oceanics, Inc. (NYSE: ATW) announced today that subsidiaries of the Company have agreed with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. (DSME) to delay the Company's requirement to take delivery of two newbuild ultra-deepwater drillships, the Atwood Admiral and the Atwood Archer, to September 30, 2017 and June 30, 2018, respectively. In consideration of the agreement, the Company will make payments of $50 million for each drillship on December 31, 2015, and DSME will extend all remaining milestone payments, $93.9 million for the Admiral and $305 million for the Archer, until their respective delivery dates. The Company retains the option to take earlier delivery of each vessel, subject to a forty-five (45) day notice period to DSME.

Atwood Oceanics announces changes to delivery schedules for two ultra-deep water drillships

Atwood Oceanics, Inc. (NYSE: ATW) announced today that subsidiaries of the Company have agreed with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. (DSME) to delay the Company's requirement to take delivery of two newbuild ultra-deepwater drillships, the Atwood Admiral and the Atwood Archer, to September 30, 2017 and June 30, 2018, respectively. In consideration of the agreement, the Company will make payments of $50 million for each drillship on December 31, 2015, and DSME will extend all remaining milestone payments, $93.9 million for the Admiral and $305 million for the Archer, until their respective delivery dates. The Company retains the option to take earlier delivery of each vessel, subject to a forty-five (45) day notice period to DSME.

Ensco 5004 in Malta

On the 8th of January 2014, the Ensco Rig 5004 safely berthed at the Malta Ship Building Quay at the Malta Marsa creek. The purpose of this rig stop is to perform general maintenance and upgrades prior continuing its drilling campaigns in Mediterranean waters.

ENSCO 5004 leaves Malta

The oil rig ENSCO 5004 today left Malta after spending seven and a half months in Grand Harbour. A local company, Ablecare Oilfield Services Group, co-ordinated all the works needed to enable the rig to be recertified and upgraded. The rig was towed to Malta from Brazil and is now heading for North Africa. Paul Abela, Chairman of Ablecare Oilfield Services Group, said: “Our clients were very satisfied with the services we provided and were impressed with Malta’s strategic location in the Mediterranean. “This challenging project was successful thanks to the efficiency and co-operation received from Government and local authorities, and this success has laid the foundation for further projects to be undertaken in Malta.” The extensive work was carried out with the direct deployment of no less than 75 Maltese skilled workers daily, and apart from the foreign contractors over 30 local sub-contractors provided a variety of ancillary support services, like transport, accommodation and catering. All works were carried out on part of the former Malta Shipbuilding site, which was temporarily refurbished to accommodate the services and workers on this specialised project. The project left a significant amount of added value to the economy and the local workforce excelled in meeting oil and gas industry standards, especially the rigorous health and safety requirements of this specialised sector.

Kosmos Energy Announces Significant Gas Discovery Offshore Senegal

Kosmos Energy (NYSE: KOS) announced today that its Guembeul-1 exploration well, located in the northern part of the St. Louis Offshore Profond license area in Senegal, has made a significant gas discovery. Located approximately five kilometers south of the basin-opening Tortue-1 gas discovery (renamed Ahmeyim) in approximately 2,700 meters of water, Guembeul-1 was drilled to a total depth of 5,245 meters. The well encountered 101 meters (331 feet) of net gas pay in two excellent quality reservoirs, including 56 meters (184 feet) in the Lower Cenomanian and 45 meters (148 feet) in the underlying Albian, with no water encountered. Importantly, Guembeul-1 has demonstrated reservoir continuity as well as static pressure communication with the Tortue-1 well in the Lower Cenomanian, suggesting a single, large gas accumulation. Moreover, the well has significantly de-risked adjacent prospectivity, including proving the existence of excellent quality reservoirs in the Albian. Furthermore, it has provided additional calibration of our seismic attribute exploration tool, confirming its reservoir and fluid predicative capability for these primary exploration targets. Based on the integration of the Guembeul-1 well results, our Pmean gross resource estimate for the Tortue West structure has increased to 11 Tcf from 8 Tcf as a result of greater reservoir (net to gross) confidence in the Cenomanian, as well as the inclusion of volumes in the Albian. Accordingly, the Pmean gross resource estimate for the Greater Tortue Complex has increased to 17 Tcf from 14 Tcf. Kosmos has also entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by Pétroles du Sénégal (Petrosen) and Société Mauritanienne Des Hydrocarbures et de Patrimoine Minier (SMHPM), the national oil companies of Senegal and Mauritania, respectively, which sets out the principles for an intergovernmental cooperation agreement for the development of the cross-border Greater Tortue resource. The MOU enables Kosmos and the two governments to work together toward early development of the field, thereby maximizing value for all stakeholders. “We are pleased to have delivered another major discovery with our first exploration well offshore Senegal. Guembeul-1 confirms the presence of a world class gas resource that extends into both Senegal and Mauritania. With our successful appraisal program and support of both governments, the initial gas development is gaining momentum,” said Andrew G. Inglis, chairman and chief executive officer. “The Guembeul-1 well continues our 100% success rate in the outboard Cretaceous petroleum system offshore Senegal and Mauritania, which we believe is a strategically important new oil and gas province and we are focused on unlocking the basin’s full potential.” The Atwood Achiever drillship will now proceed to Mauritania to drill the Ahmeyim-2 delineation well in the southern part of Mauritania’s Block C-8. This will test the downdip limits of the field and is expected to complete appraisal of the Tortue West structure. Kosmos holds a 60 percent interest in the Guembeul-1 well, along with Timis Corporation Limited at 30 percent and Petrosen at 10 percent. Since 2014, Kosmos has held rights to conduct exploration in the St. Louis Offshore Profond and Cayar Offshore Profond license areas under production sharing contracts with the Government of Senegal.

Consent to use Rowan Norway at Ekofisk 2/4 B

The PSA has granted ConocoPhillips consent to use the Rowan Norway mobile drilling facility for plugging and abandonment of wells at Ekofisk 2/4 B. Ekofisk is an oil field lying in 70-75 metres of water in the southern North Sea. The field was produced to tankers until a concrete storage tank was installed in 1973. Since then, the field has been further developed with many facilities, including riser facilities for associated fields and export pipelines. The operation is scheduled to start in February 2016. Rowan Norway is a jack-up drilling facility built in 2011 at Keppel Fels in Singapore. It is registered in Panama and classified by DnV GL. The facility received Acknowledgement of Compliance (AoC) on 21 December 2012. The PSA has now granted ConocoPhillips consent in accordance with the application.

Construction deferred by 19 months

According to Ensco’s February 2016 fleet status report, the delivery of the Ensco 123 jackup has been deferred by 19 months, to the first quarter of 2018.

Kosmos Energy Announces Successful Appraisal of Gas Discovery Offshore Mauritania and Senegal

Kosmos Energy (NYSE: KOS) announced today that its Ahmeyim-2 appraisal well has successfully delineated the Ahmeyim and Guembeul gas discoveries offshore Mauritania and Senegal. Located in Mauritanian waters, approximately 5 kilometers northwest, and 200 meters downdip of the basin-opening Tortue-1 discovery well in approximately 2,800 meters of water, Ahmeyim-2 was drilled to a total depth of 5,200 meters. As anticipated, in the Lower Cenomanian and Albian, Ahmeyim-2 penetrated the seismic-inferred gas-water contacts, defining the field limit and extending the productive field area from approximately 50 square kilometers to 90 square kilometers. Furthermore, the well confirmed significant thickening of the gross reservoir sequences down-structure and importantly, within the Lower Cenomanian, static fluid pressure communication between the Tortue-1, Guembeul-1 and Ahmeyim-2 wells. The well encountered 78 meters (256 feet) of net gas pay in two excellent quality reservoirs, including 46 meters (151 feet) in the Lower Cenomanian and 32 meters (105 feet) in the underlying Albian. These results demonstrate field-wide reservoir continuity and indicate Tortue West is a large, simple gas field. With the integration of the Ahmeyim-2 well results, our Pmean gross resource estimate for the Tortue West structure has increased to 15 Tcf from 11 Tcf as a result of extending the field area in the Cenomanian and the Albian. Accordingly, the Pmean gross resource estimate for the Greater Tortue Complex has increased to over 20 Tcf from 17 Tcf. “Ahmeyim-2 is our fourth successful exploration and appraisal well and continues our 100 percent success rate in the outboard Cretaceous petroleum system offshore Mauritania and Senegal, further demonstrating that Kosmos has opened a world-class hydrocarbon province. With this well, we believe we have proven sufficient gas resource to underpin a world-scale LNG project in the Tortue West structure alone. The combination of the resource size and quality continue to support our view that Tortue is a competitive source of LNG and we are working towards commercialization,” said Andrew G. Inglis, chairman and chief executive officer. “Our well-to-seismic calibration has again been proven, highlighting the reliability of this tool and increasing our confidence in its use for fully unlocking the basin, which we believe has significant potential for both oil and gas. We now plan to drill the first of three independent oil tests in our blocks offshore Mauritania and Senegal, starting with the Teranga-1 well, located in the Cayar Offshore Profond Block, offshore Senegal.” Since 2012, Kosmos has held rights to conduct exploration in the C-8, C-12, and C-13 contract areas under production sharing contracts with the Government of Mauritania’s Société Mauritanienne Des Hydrocarbures et de Patrimoine Minier (SMHPM). Kosmos operates the Ahmeyim-2 well with 90 percent equity and is joined by its partner SMHPM at 10 percent. The blocks are contiguous, range in water depth between 1,000 and 3,000 meters, and have combined acreage of approximately 27,000 square kilometers.

Kosmos Energy Announces Significant Gas Discovery Offshore Senegal

Kosmos Energy (NYSE: KOS) announced today that its Teranga-1 exploration well offshore Senegal has made a significant gas discovery. Located in the Cayar Offshore Profond block approximately 65 kilometers northwest of Dakar in nearly 1,800 meters of water, the Teranga-1 well was drilled to a total depth of 4,485 meters. The well encountered 31 meters (102 feet) of net gas pay in good quality reservoir in the Lower Cenomanian objective. Well results confirm that a prolific inboard gas fairway extends approximately 200 kilometers from the Marsouin-1 well in Mauritania through the Greater Tortue area on the maritime boundary to the Teranga-1 well in Senegal. Kosmos has now drilled five consecutive successful exploration and appraisal wells in this fairway with a 100 percent success rate. In the process, the company has discovered a gross Pmean resource of approximately 25 Tcf and estimates the fairway may hold more than 50 Tcf of resource potential. Andrew G. Inglis, chairman and chief executive officer, said: “Our continuing exploration success demonstrates we have opened a super-major scale basin offshore Mauritania and Senegal with world-class resource potential. Given the scale and quality of the gas resource discovered along the inboard trend, our focus is to move this resource through to development. Our forward exploration plan is to mature the two independent tests with oil potential in northern Mauritania and in the outboard of Mauritania and Senegal for drilling in 2017.”

Manora Oil Development Completed

Tap Oil Limited (ASX:TAP) provides the following update on the Manora Oil Development in the Northern Gulf of Thailand (Tap 30% interest). Mubadala Petroleum, Operator of the Manora Oil Development joint venture, has advised that drilling of the MNA-15 and MNA-16 development wells has now been completed. The MNA-15 and MNA-16 wells have been drilled to final total depths of 2,566m and 2,998m (measured depth) respectively and completed with electric submersible pumps (ESPs). Drilling and completion of the two wells was completed in 38 days. Both development wells were targeted to the east fault block of the Manora oilfield. The MNA-15 well found 44 m of oil pay in three separate reservoirs. It will be completed as a four zone selective completion produced by an ESP installed on a Y-block. The MNA-16 well found 37 m oil pay in four separate reservoirs. It will be completed as a six zone selective completion produced by an ESP installed on a Y-block. MNA-15 is expected to commence production in the last week in April when the rig leaves the platform. MNA-16 is expected to commence production during the first week in May once it is connected to the production system. Production from the two wells is expected to return Manora to its plateau rate of 15,000 bopd gross (4,500 bopd net to TAP). The Atwood Orca rig has now moved off location. The Atwood Orca is expected to commence drilling of the Sri Trang-1 exploration well in the Reservation Area of the G1/48 Concession in mid May 2016. Tap has 2P reserves of 4 mmbbls (13.2 mmbbls gross) as at 31 December 2015 booked for Manora (see annual report ASX release 22 April 2016). Tap will review these reserves and contingent resources following development drilling and production performance.

Ralph Coffman on route to Suriname

Petronas, the national oil company of Malaysia and the German oil company Deutsche Erdoel AG (DEA) will start drilling the exploration well Roselle-I in offshore Block 52 in May. The oilrig Ralph Coffman – Rowan which is deployed for the exploration activities left Chaguaramas Bay, Trinidad on 18 April. The voyage to Suriname takes about 12 days.

Pride International, Inc. Updates Status on Deepwater Drillship Deep Ocean Ascension

Pride International, Inc. (NYSE: PDE) today announced that it has reached agreement with BP Exploration & Production Inc. (BP) to amend the contract for the Deep Ocean Ascension to provide for a special standby dayrate prior to the startup of the previously agreed five-year term. The Ascension, the first of four new drillships in Pride's ultra-deepwater expansion, is currently in the Gulf of Mexico undergoing integrated acceptance testing with BP. The special standby dayrate of $360,000 is effective beginning August 23, 2010, and gives consideration to the existing drilling moratorium in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. This special standby dayrate will remain in effect until the earlier of April 1, 2011 or the date the rig begins mobilization to its first drilling site, either within or outside the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The rig will then begin earning the applicable dayrate as already defined in the existing contract for the five-year term, which was unchanged by the amendment. The Company is currently working closely with BP in an effort to find a suitable drilling location in their worldwide portfolio as quickly as possible.

New ENSCO 8500 Ultra-Deepwater Semisubmersible Drilling Rig Starts Operations Under Contract with Anadarko and Eni

Ensco International Incorporated (NYSE: ESV) announced today that the ENSCO 8500, the first of seven new ultra-deepwater semisubmersible drilling rigs in the ENSCO 8500 Series®, has commenced operations in the Gulf of Mexico under a four-year contract with Anadarko and Eni. Chairman, President and CEO Dan Rabun commented, “Over the past several years, we strategically have committed more than $3 billion to the expansion of our ultra-deepwater fleet to better serve the needs of our customers. Today, we achieved a milestone in the implementation phase of the ENSCO 8500 Series® deepwater initiative with the commencement of operations by ENSCO 8500 under a long-term drilling contract signed in September 2005.” Mr. Rabun added, “Our ultra-deepwater semisubmersible drilling rigs complement our premium jackup fleet and will become a progressively larger segment of Ensco’s total rig fleet around the world.”

Rowan to receive $215 million payment plus potential $30 million in contingent payments

Rowan Companies plc (NYSE: RDC) today announced an agreement with its customer, Freeport-McMoRan Oil & Gas LLC (FMOG), and FMOG's parent company, Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (Freeport), in connection with a drilling contract for the drillship Rowan Relentless, which was scheduled to terminate in June 2017. The agreement provides that the drilling contract will be terminated immediately, and Freeport will pay Rowan $215 million in cash to settle outstanding receivables and early termination of the contract. Rowan may also receive additional contingent payments from Freeport of $10 million and $20 million, respectively, depending on the average price of oil over a 12-month period. In addition, Rowan expects to reduce its costs for the Rowan Relentless by efficient warm stacking of the rig. Freeport recently announced a restructuring of its oil and gas business, which is operated through FMOG. As disclosed in Freeport's public filings, FMOG has substantial debt and has been negatively impacted by the sustained downturn in oil prices. Tom Burke, President & CEO of Rowan, commented: "I am satisfied with this resolution given FMOG did not have any ongoing work for the Rowan Relentless. This accelerated payment provides additional liquidity to further strengthen our balance sheet and affords Rowan added flexibility as we review opportunities in this down market. The Rowan Relentless, our fourth high-specification ultra-deepwater drillship, had outstanding operational performance on this contract, delivering safe, reliable and efficient operations."

Sri Trang final drilling update

The Sri Trang-1 exploration well is located in the Reservation Area of the G1/48 concession in the Gulf of Thailand approximately 18 kilometres north northeast of the Manora oil development. Mubadala Petroleum is the operator of G1/48. The well was spudded at 17.30 hrs (WST) on 17 May 2016 in 40 metres of water by the Atwood Orca jackup drilling unit and was drilled to an extended final total depth of 2,814 meters measured depth. The test results confirmed the presence of oil in poor quality reservoir sand. The samples collected from three other zones confirmed the presence of water. Although the oil is not in commercial quantities, the Sri Trang-1 discovery has validated the hydrocarbon prospectivity of the Northern Kra Basin. The drilling cost of the Sri Trang-1 well will be offset against the G1/48 Reservation Area fee (~US$3.8 million) paid to the Thai Department of Mineral Fuels by the Joint Venture of the Reservation Area in the G1/48 concession. It is estimated that Tap may be required to contribute up to a further US$0.1 million above the Reservation Area refund.

Contract Termination

Stone Energy Corporation (NYSE: SGY) today announced the termination of an existing long term deep water rig commitment and the execution of a new interim Appalachian midstream contract. Stone and Ensco have agreed to terminate Stone's current contract with Ensco for total consideration of $20 million, approximately $5 million of which was a deposit previously provided to Ensco pursuant to the drilling services contract. Further, Stone agreed to provide Ensco the opportunity to perform certain drilling services commenced before December 31, 2019, and Stone paid Ensco a $5 million deposit to be used as a credit against future drilling activities initiated before March 31, 2017, subject to extension in certain circumstances. The ENSCO 8503 deep water rig contract was at a day rate of $341,000 and was scheduled to expire in August 2017.

Contract Termination

Ensco plc has received a notice of termination for convenience from Total for the ENSCO DS-7 drillship. The effective date of the termination will be early during the fourth quarter of 2016. According to Ensco plc’s announcement, the contractor does not anticipate ‘a material impact to its financial results for 2016 and 2017 as a result of this termination’.

Delivery of Jackup

Lamprell (ticker: LAM), a leading provider of fabrication, engineering and contracting services to the energy industry, is pleased to announce the completion of construction of the "Ensco 141" jackup drilling rig and its delivery to Ensco Intercontinental GmbH, a subsidiary of Ensco plc ("Ensco").  The contract for the "Ensco 141" rig was signed in April 2014 and this is the second rig with the LeTourneau Super 116E (Enhanced) Class design which Lamprell has delivered to this leading drilling operator. The rig will be warm­stacked alongside its sister rig at Lamprell's stacking facility in Hamriyah, United Arab Emirates.  The Group currently has a further four new build jackup rigs under construction at its Hamriyah facility, which are progressing as planned and will be delivered over the coming 6 months.

Delivery Delay

Atwood Oceanics, Inc. (NYSE: ATW) announced today that it has agreed with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. ("DSME") to delay the requirement to take delivery of Atwood's two newbuild ultra-deepwater drillships, the Atwood Admiral and the Atwood Archer, by two years to September 30, 2019 and June 30, 2020, respectively. In connection with the delay, Atwood will make a payment of $125 million for the Atwood Archer on or before December 15, 2016, as well as a payment of $15 million on the earlier of June 30, 2018 or the delivery date. In respect of the Atwood Admiral, Atwood will make a payment of $10 million on the earlier of September 30, 2017 or the delivery date. DSME will extend all remaining milestone payments, which include $83.9 million plus fees and interest for the Atwood Admiral and $165.0 million plus fees and interest for the Atwood Archer, until December 30, 2022. The Company's obligation to pay the remaining milestone payments will be evidenced by a promissory note executed by Alpha Admiral Company or Alpha Archer Company, each a subsidiary of the Company, on the date their respective drillship is delivered, with the note accruing interest at a rate of 5% per annum and being secured by a first preferred ship mortgage on the corresponding drillship. The Company has agreed not to terminate the construction contracts except in accordance with the terms of the supplemental agreements. The Company retains the option to take earlier delivery of each drillship, subject to a 45-day notice period to DSME, without affecting the final milestone payment date. Rob Saltiel, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "The restructuring of payment and delivery schedules for the Atwood Admiral and Atwood Archer is an important step in our capital structure management, enhancing liquidity and improving capital commitment timing. The two-year extensions on the delivery dates greatly improve our confidence that we will secure suitable drilling services contracts on both rigs prior to taking delivery. We now have the opportunity to earn revenues on these rigs that will cover some or all of the final payments to the shipyard. "We appreciate the flexibility that DSME has provided to Atwood Oceanics in response to this severe industry downturn." Mark Smith, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, added, "Our liquidity position is enhanced by approximately $250 million from June 30, 2018 until final payments are made to DSME on December 30, 2022. This lengthened time for making final milestone payments represents a staggering of our debt maturities. Following the December 15, 2016 payment, all interest expenses on the outstanding amounts due to DSME will be accrued and paid at the time of the final milestone payment, improving our free cash flows through 2022."

Delivery Delay

Atwood Oceanics, Inc. (NYSE: ATW) announced today that it has agreed with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. ("DSME") to delay the requirement to take delivery of Atwood's two newbuild ultra-deepwater drillships, the Atwood Admiral and the Atwood Archer, by two years to September 30, 2019 and June 30, 2020, respectively. In connection with the delay, Atwood will make a payment of $125 million for the Atwood Archer on or before December 15, 2016, as well as a payment of $15 million on the earlier of June 30, 2018 or the delivery date. In respect of the Atwood Admiral, Atwood will make a payment of $10 million on the earlier of September 30, 2017 or the delivery date. DSME will extend all remaining milestone payments, which include $83.9 million plus fees and interest for the Atwood Admiral and $165.0 million plus fees and interest for the Atwood Archer, until December 30, 2022. The Company's obligation to pay the remaining milestone payments will be evidenced by a promissory note executed by Alpha Admiral Company or Alpha Archer Company, each a subsidiary of the Company, on the date their respective drillship is delivered, with the note accruing interest at a rate of 5% per annum and being secured by a first preferred ship mortgage on the corresponding drillship. The Company has agreed not to terminate the construction contracts except in accordance with the terms of the supplemental agreements. The Company retains the option to take earlier delivery of each drillship, subject to a 45-day notice period to DSME, without affecting the final milestone payment date. Rob Saltiel, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "The restructuring of payment and delivery schedules for the Atwood Admiral and Atwood Archer is an important step in our capital structure management, enhancing liquidity and improving capital commitment timing. The two-year extensions on the delivery dates greatly improve our confidence that we will secure suitable drilling services contracts on both rigs prior to taking delivery. We now have the opportunity to earn revenues on these rigs that will cover some or all of the final payments to the shipyard. "We appreciate the flexibility that DSME has provided to Atwood Oceanics in response to this severe industry downturn." Mark Smith, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, added, "Our liquidity position is enhanced by approximately $250 million from June 30, 2018 until final payments are made to DSME on December 30, 2022. This lengthened time for making final milestone payments represents a staggering of our debt maturities. Following the December 15, 2016 payment, all interest expenses on the outstanding amounts due to DSME will be accrued and paid at the time of the final milestone payment, improving our free cash flows through 2022."

Newbuild Delay

Ensco recently entered into an amendment to the ENSCO DS-10 drillship construction contract (the “Amendment”) with Samsung Heavy Industries (“SHI”), the shipyard constructing the ENSCO DS-10 (“Drillship”). Under the terms of the Amendment: The delivery date for the Drillship has been extended to March 31, 2019 (the “Extended Delivery Date”). Ensco may elect to take delivery of the Drillship earlier upon giving SHI 75 days’ advance notice. Notwithstanding the Extended Delivery Date, SHI agreed to complete construction of the Drillship by March 31, 2017. Payment of $75 million of the approximately $309 million unpaid balance of the purchase price for the Drillship has been deferred to March 31, 2019, or such earlier date as Ensco may elect to take delivery of the Drillship. The remaining $234 million of the purchase price is to be paid in January 2017.

Eni makes a new gas and condensates discovery offshore Libya

Eni has made a new discovery of gas and condensates offshore Libya in the ‘Gamma Prospect‘, in the Contract Area D, 140 km offshore from Tripoli, in Libya. The discovery, made through the well B1 16/3, is located 15km south west of the Bouri field and 5km north of the Bahr Essalam field. The drilling of the Gamma prospect is part of the “near field” exploration strategy of Eni, targeting opportunities, that in case of success can exploit synergies with existing infrastructures reducing the time to market and providing additional gas to the local market and export. The well, drilled in 150 metres of water depth, reached a total depth of 2,981 metres (9,780 feet) and encountered gas and condensates in the Metlaoui Group of Eocene age. The well has the capacity to deliver, in production configuration, in ecxess of 7,000 Boepd and represents a further discovery made by Eni in Libyan offshore Area D, following the discoveries made in 2015. Eni, through its subsidiary Eni North Africa BV, is operator of Contract Area D with a 100% working interest in the exploration phase. Eni has been present in Libya since 1959 and currently produces 350,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in equity in the country.

Rowan Highest Bidder for Petrobras Jackups

Rowan Companies plc, through a wholly owned subsidiary, participated in the recent Petrobras public rig auction and was the high bidder for P-59 and P-60, two 2013 built LeTourneau Super 116E jack-up rigs.  While Rowan was the high bidder and is required to purchase the rigs at its bid price (US$30 million per rig), the auction results have not yet been approved by Petrobras.

Zama-1 Spudded

Premier is pleased to announce that the Zama-1 exploration well in Block 7 (Premier equity 25 per cent) in the shallow water Sureste Basin, offshore Mexico, was spudded at 0630 on 21 May 2017. This is the first exploration well to be drilled on acreage awarded in Mexico’s first international licencing round in 2015. The well’s principal target is the low risk Zama prospect with supportive direct hydrocarbon indicators in the Tertiary clastic reservoirs. The Zama structure is estimated to have a P90-P10 gross unrisked resource range of 100-500 mmbbls. The well is expected to take up to 90 days to drill both the Zama prospect and the secondary target, Zama Deep, at a total cost to Premier of $16 million. The partners in Block 7 are Talos Energy (operator, 35 per cent), Sierra Oil and Gas (40 per cent) and Premier (25 per cent).

Noble Energy Terminates the Contract for the Atwood Advantage

Noble Energy has chosen to terminate the contract on the Atwood Advantage drillship. The rig is currently nearing completion of the Leviathan 5 appraisal and production well, offshore Israel. Following a recent tender, Noble Energy and its partners identified the opportunity to hire an alternative rig at a significantly lower day rate. Consequently, Noble has chosen to end the contract for the Atwood Advantage on completion of the Leviathan 5 well, and continue the drilling programme with an alternative rig.