New Drilling Contract for Rowan

Rowan Companies Plc. through one of its subsidiaries has entered into a two-year drilling contract for the Rowan Relentless, the fourth and final drillship in Rowan’s current construction program.

The contract is with Freeport-McMoRan Oil & Gas LLC, a subsidiary of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., for operations in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

The contract is expected to commence in the third quarter of 2015 and will add approximately $425m to Rowan’s current contract backlog.

Tom Burke, Rowan’s President and Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are extremely proud that our fourth drillship will work for FM O&G in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

Our two companies have enjoyed a mutually beneficial and long-standing working relationship drilling ultra-deep Gulf of Mexico shelf gas wells, and we are delighted to have been selected for this important ultra-deepwater drilling program.”

The Rowan Relentless is the company’s fourth ultra-deepwater drillship. All four drillships are based on a GustoMSC P10,000 hull design, capable of drilling wells to depths of 40,000 feet in water depths up to 12,000 feet.

The DP-3 compliant, dynamically positioned drillship will be equipped with retractable thrusters, two readily deployable seven-ram BOP systems, five mud pumps, dual mud systems and a maximum hook-load capacity of 1,250 tons.

All four of the company’s ultra-deepwater drillships are now under long-term contracts.

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June 9, 2014