Saudi Aramco keeps three Rowan jack-ups

Saudi Aramco, a Saudi Arabian oil company, has extended contracts for three jack-up rigs with Rowan, a Houston-based drilling contractor.

The oil company exercised its option to extend the primary term of the contract for the Rowan Mississippi drilling rig for one year in the Middle East at $195,000 per day starting December 2014, above the previous base day rate of $170,000 after excluding the impact of mobilization and capex fees. The rig was off rate during 1Q 2014 for inspections.

Saudi Aramco decided to extend the primary term for the Hank Boswell rig for one year in the Middle East at $180,000 per day starting August 2014, an increase from the previous dayrate of $128,000. In its fleet status report, Rowan said it expected 28 days off rate time for the Hank Boswell rig inspections to occur during 1Q 2015. The drilling contractor also added that the rig may be out of service for some time in 2015 due to customer‐required equipment upgrades.

The dayrate for the Scooter Yeargain rig will also increase in November 2014, when it will start a new contract with the Saudi oil company at $180,000 per day. This contract too is for a one year period. The rig’s current dayrate is $128,000. Similar to the Hank Boswell rig, the Scooter Yeargain will be out of service for some time in 2015 for customer‐required equipment upgrades.

Saudi Aramco says that since 1998 it has added more than 3.8 million barrels per day (bpd) to worldwide crude oil production capacity. According to information on the company’s website, Saudi Aramco currently provides roughly one in every eight barrels of crude oil the world consumes on any given day.