Atwood Oceanics secures contract for Atwood Achiever ultra-deepwater drillship

Atwood Oceanics has been awarded a drilling services contract for the ultra-deepwater drillship Atwood Achiever by a subsidiary of Kosmos Energy for an exploration program commencing in Morocco.

The Atwood Achiever is a sixth-generation ultra-deepwater, dynamically positioned drillship with enhanced offline capabilities and two BOP systems. The rig’s capabilities include drilling to total depths up to 40,000 ft and in water depths up to 12,000 ft. The drillship is under construction at Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) shipyard in South Korea. The Atwood Achiever is scheduled for delivery from the DSME shipyard in June 2014, after which it will mobilize for a period of approximately 65 days to its first location in Morocco.

The signed agreement covers an initial period of three years at approximately $595,000 per day, with an option to extend the contract for an additional three-year term.

This contract adds $652 million in revenue backlog, bringing Atwood’s total revenue backlog to approximately $3.9 billion as of 10 June 2013.

“We are very pleased to have contracted the Atwood Achiever, our second ultra-deepwater drillship, with Kosmos Energy,” Rob Saltiel, Atwood’s president and CEO, said. “Our companies have always worked well together, and the Achiever will provide  an excellent platform for delivering safe and reliable drilling services for Kosmos’ exploration program.”