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Tuesday, 02 December, 2008, 23:10 GMT | more >>

Atwood Hunter rig rate ‘highest ever’



By Upstream staff 

Houston driller Atwood Oceanics’ Atwood Hunter third-generation deep-water rig is believed to have scored the highest ever dayrate for an ultra-deep semi-submersible, capable of operating in water up to 5000 feet deep, an analyst's report said.

As reported by Upstreamonline yesterday, the Atwood Hunter has been handed a number of jobs with Noble Energy and Kosmos Energy for a combined term of four years at an average of $523,000 per day.

“We believe the dayrate is the highest ever for a 5000-foot floater and quite attractive considering the four-year term,” investment bank Dahlman Rose & Company said in a report.

The mid and deep-water markets have strengthened significantly over the past few months, with aged 2000-foot limit rigs garnering over $400,000 per day and now the 5000-foot market has surpassed the $500,000 day rate, added Dahlman.

Given Atwood’s smaller fleet of rigs relative to its peers, it has a higher sensitivity to dayrate changes in any one rig, consequently Dahlman has boosted its earnings per share forecast for the company by $0.40 to $13.41 per share for the 2009 calendar year.

Atwood is the smallest of the major US drillers, but has the largest exposure to the deep-water market with 50% of its revenues derived from 5000-foot floaters, said Dahlman.


Thursday, 26 June, 2008, 03:46 GMT  | last updated: Thursday, 26 June, 2008, 05:27 GMT

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