Rowan retires jack-up pair, lands extensions

Offshore drilling contractor Rowan Companies has cold stacked one rig, sold two, and received several extensions for its jack-up drilling rigs. 

According to the driller’s latest fleet status report issued on Tuesday, the 1983-built jack-up Rowan California, that previously operated in the Middle East, was cold stacked.

Further, Rowan’s two jack-ups, Rowan Gorilla II and Rowan Gorilla III, were sold in the fourth quarter of 2016, retiring from service as drilling units.

The driller also reported that the 1981-built jack-up rig Gilbert Rowe has received a contract extension with Saudi Aramco at current rate until March 31, 2017. Gilbert Rowe is one of the rigs which is expected to be contributed to the 50/50 joint venture with Saudi Aramco, which was announced in November 2016. The new entity is anticipated to start operations in the second quarter of 2017 and the contract dayrate and estimated availability currently listed for the rig may change at that time.

Another jack-up rig, the 2010-built Rowan EXL III, started operations in the Gulf of Mexico in mid-December for approximately six months of work. The rig is working for Arena with a dayrate of $55,000.

Furthermore, the 1986-built Rowan Gorilla IV jack-up has got a contract extension with Arena in the Gulf of Mexico for approximately ten months of work. The rig’s dayrate is $65,000, with an expected 30 day off rate time in 3Q 2017 for repairs and inspections.

Due to efficient drilling performance and well based contract, the contract end date for the jack-up Rowan EXL II, built in 2010, is now estimated to be February 2017. The contract has been extended for three wells until July 2017. The rig is operating for BP offshore Trinidad.

The contract end date for another rig that’s working for BP off Trinidad, the 2012-built jack-up Joe Douglas, is also estimated to be February 2017 due to efficient drilling performance and well based contract. The contract has been extended for four wells, with a one well priced option following the primary term, until December 2017.

In addition, the end date for the 2009-built jack-up Ralph Coffman, which is also operating off Trinidad for an unnamed client, is now estimated to be June 2017 due to efficient drilling performance and well based contract. The contract has then been extended for three wells until October 2017.

Offshore Energy Today Staff