After negotiations with OGX, Diamond Offshore was able to shorten the Ocean Quest contract by two months, from December to late October.
“This was done so that we could begin our marketing efforts and secure passage on a heavy lift vessel to take the Ocean Quest to Malaysia for operations in Asia Pacific,” said Diamond Offshore chief executive Larry Dickerson.
Although the company does not yet have another contract for the Ocean Quest, Dickerson believes the rig will be able to replace the semisub Ocean Patriot in Australasia.
The Ocean Patriot will return to the North Sea in August 2014 to start a three-year programme with UK supermajor Shell for a dayrate of $400,511, a hefty 45% increase from the current $275,000-a-day charter...
