Saudi Aramco Hires Two AOD’s Jack-up Rigs

Asia Offshore Drilling Limited (“AOD”), has signed drilling contracts whereby AOD’s jack-up drilling rigs ‘AOD II’ and ‘AOD III’ will be providing drilling services to the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (“Saudi Aramco”) for operations in offshore Saudi Arabia. The drilling contracts have been entered into and will be managed by Seadrill Limited on behalf of AOD.

Together with ‘AOD I’, already contracted to provide drilling services to Saudi Aramco, the total combined potential revenue of AOD from its three rigs in their first three years of operations, inclusive of mobilisation fees, now stands at almost USD 700 million.

The contract duration for each rig is a minimum of three years plus a one-year option. The potential revenues for the three-year period are approximately USD 197 million per rig plus a mobilisation fee of USD 34 million per rig, which includes certain upgrades, other mobilisation costs, and day rates during the mobilisation period. ‘AOD II’ and ‘AOD III’ are currently under construction at Keppel FELS Limited (“Keppel FELS”) in Singapore with scheduled delivery dates of April and July 2013, respectively.

[mappress]