Best quarter in history of Pacific Drilling, CEO says

Pacific Drilling S.A. has reported revenue of $260.8 million for the three months ended June 30, 2014, as compared to revenue of $225.6 million for first-quarter 2014 and $176.8 million for second-quarter 2013.

CEO Chris Beckett said, “Despite the challenging market conditions, this quarter was the best in our company’s history. We continue to deliver exceptional financial results driven by our outstanding operational performance and ongoing fleet growth.”

“Pacific Drilling’s third quarter is off to a good start, as well,” Beckett added. “In July, our fleet achieved average revenue efficiency in excess of 96 percent. We agreed terms for [drillship] Pacific Bora’s two-year extension, and expect the new rate to go into effect Aug. 26. The Pacific Sharav [drillship]is currently mobilizing, and we expect it to be ready for Gulf of Mexico operations by the end of this month. Negotiations for the extension of Pacific Mistral [drillship]are ongoing, and we are progressing on a direct negotiation for Pacific Meltem [drillship].”

Contract drilling revenue for second-quarter 2014 was $260.8 million, which included $28.0 million of deferred revenue amortization, compared to contract drilling revenue of $225.6 million for first-quarter 2014, which also included $28.0 million of deferred revenue amortization.

During the three months ended June 30, 2014, Pacific Drilling’s operating fleet of five drillships achieved average revenue efficiency of 97.1 percent, the company’s highest average quarterly revenue efficiency to date.

The increase in revenue efficiency resulted primarily from strong operational uptime driven by low incidence of equipment breakdowns. In addition, during the quarter Pacific Drilling experienced relatively few periods of reduced dayrate due to standby or moving time and limited reduced dayrate related to performance or equipment issues.

Pacific Drilling, based in Luxembourg,  currently operates five drillships under customer contract, has one drillship mobilizing to begin its drilling operations under client contract, and has two drillships under construction at Samsung Heavy Industries.