Danish offshore drilling contractor Maersk Drilling on Friday posted a drop in the third quarter 2015 profit.
Profit after tax was $184 million, a fall compared to a year ago levels when profit was $192 million. Revenue for the quarter rose to $646 million, up from $525 million last year.
The driller signed two new rig contracts in the 3Q 2015, and four contract extensions.
While the company admits the contracts and extensions were signed at significantly lower day rates compared to previous contracts, the new deals added $1.1bn to Maersk Drilling’s revenue backlog. The day rates have fallen across the offshore drilling industry due to a mix of low oil prices, rig oversupply and clients’ capex cuts.
The company said that its fleet utilization was adversely affected by increased idle time and Maersk Deliverer rig’s yard stay. The rig completed its yard stay as planned and was back on operating rate mid-September 2015. The utilization of the fleet was 85%, down from 89% in 3q 2014.
Providing outlook, Maersk Drilling kept the expectation of a significantly higher adjusted profit than in 2014 ($471m) due to more rigs in operation, high forward contract coverage as well as the impact from the initiated profit optimization program.
Offshore Energy Today Staff