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Saturday, 30 August, 2008, 11:20 GMT | more prices >>

Atwood heeds Aussie rig call



By Upstream staff 

Houston driller Atwood Oceanics said it had won a three-year contract from Chevron Australia to provide a newbuild semi-submersible drilling rig for operations off the country.

Atwood said the deal, with its Atwood Oceanics Pacific unit, provide for a dayrate of $470,000, with an option to extend the contract to six year at $450,000 per day.

The company said it had already signed a construction contract with SembCorp Marine to build the rig at Singapore's Jurong shipyard, with delivery expected in 2011. Atwood said it expected the rig, to be built to Friede & Goldman ExD Millennium design, to cost between $570 million and $590 million.

The rig will be capable of mooring in 6000 feet of water and in water up to 8000 feet deep using pre-laid anchors. Atwood said it also had an option with Jurong to build a second rig.

The rig will be funded using Atwood’s existing cash flow plus its $300 million credit facility, the company said in a statement.


Thursday, 03 January, 2008, 22:53 GMT  | last updated: Friday, 04 January, 2008, 22:46 GMT

New horizons: Atwood's existing semi-submersible rig Southern Cross at work
 

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