Rough seas could be ahead for offshore
drilling contractor Ocean Rig UDW Inc. (NASDAQ: ORIG), which warned that
several of its rigs could be without work after wrapping up existing
jobs.
In an Oct. 7 fleet status update the
international ultra-deepwater and harsh-environment specialist said two
rigs started contracts for work offshore Angola and three others are in
the process of completing wells—one each offshore the Falklands, Norway
and Brazil.
Ocean Rig detailed the status
of five of its rigs. The company owns and operates 13 offshore
ultra-deepwater drilling units with two ultra-deepwater semisubmersible
drilling rigs and 11 ultra-deepwater drillships. Three of its
ultra-deepwater drillships are set to be delivered one at a time in
2017, 2018 and 2019.
Work has not been
lined up for three of the five rigs once their current contracts end in
2016. With no employment prospects, Ocean Rig said it will explore cold
stacking or scrapping the units if work is not found.
The
report comes as the oil and gas industry continues to endure lower
commodity prices, the result of a supply-demand imbalance that have
caused companies to cut back spending and reduce drilling activity.
(www.epmag.com)