Premier Oil, an independent oil and gas company, has ended a contract it had with the offshore driller Ocean Rig for the Eirik Raude semi-sub. Namely, Premier Oil and Noble Energy entered into a contract with Ocean Rig UDW on June 3, 2014, for the provision of the Eirik Raude semi-submersible drilli
Hercules Offshore, Inc., a U.S. offshore driller is exploring its options, including a merger or a sale of the company. In a statement on Thursday, the company said it established a special comprised of all the independent members of the Board of Directors of the companyto consider and explore vario
Awilco Drilling, a UK based drilling contractor that owns two semi-submersible drilling rigs, has posted a net loss of $32.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2015 after an impairment charge of $30 million. As a comparison, Awilco made a profit of $38.9 million in the 4Q of 2014. In the fourth quart
Byron Energy, the operator of several blocks in the Gulf of Mexico, has mobilised Hercules Offshore’s drilling rig Hercules 205 to the SM-6 #2 well location in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The rig was recently released by its previous operator, Renaissance, and it will operate for Byron under a dayrate
Danish offshore drilling contractor Maersk Drilling reported a hike in profits both for the fourth quarter, and for the full year 2015. In 4Q 2015, the company’s profit was $181 million, up from $53 million a year ago. For the full year, Maersk Drilling made a profit of $751 million, up from $478 mi
Songa Offshore, an offshore drilling contractor, has informed that another one of its Cat D drilling rigs has experienced blowout preventer (BOP) related operational issues. According to Songa Offshore’s January fleet update, the company’s Cat D drilling rig Songa Equinox performed weather related r
ConocoPhillips, one of the world’s largest independent oil and gas exploration and production companies has been fined after gas leaks on a gas platform off the Lincolnshire coast put workers’ lives in danger. According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) UK, ConocoPhillips admitted serious saf
Diamond Offshore Drilling, a deepwater drilling contractor, on Monday posted a net loss of $245 million for the fourth quarter 2015, compared to net income of $99 million in the fourth quarter of 2014. Results for the quarter included a non-cash charge of $499 million associated with the impairment
Hercules Offshore’s jack-up drilling rig Hercules 205 has been released by the previous operator, Renaissance, and is expected to start mobilization to Byron Energy’s Gulf of Mexico well once the weather conditions allow it. According to Byron Energy, the operator of several blocks in the Gulf of Me
Soco International, an oil and gas exploration and production company, has announced that the Baobab Marine-1 (BABM-1) commitment well started drilling on February 5, 2016 in the Mer Profonde Sud Block, located in the Lower Congo Basin, offshore Congo. Soco is the operator of the block with 60% inte
Transocean, an offshore drilling contractor, has received an early contract termination for one of its drillships. Namely, Murphy Exploration & Production Company – USA, a subsidiary of Murphy Oil Corporation, has elected to terminate the contract for the 2001-built ultra-deepwater drillship Discove
Baker Hughes Incorporated has posted Weekly Rig Count reports to its Investor Relations website according to which the number of offshore rigs has plunged. BHI Rig Count: U.S. -48 to 571 rigs U.S. Rig Count is down 48 rigs from last week to 571, with oil rigs down 31 to 467, and gas rigs down [&hell
Maersk Drilling has failed to find a new contract for the semi-submersible Maersk Developer and will now have to stack it, axing 80 jobs in the process. Following completion of a six-year contract with the Norwegian oil giant Statoil, the Maersk Developer arrived to Port Fourchon, Lousiana, where it
The international offshore rig count for January 2016 was down both sequentially and year over year, according to a report by Baker Hughes, an oilfield services provider. The international offshore rig count for January 2016 was 242, down 8 from the 250 counted in December 2015, and down 72 from the
