Kosmos charters Seadrill’s West Capricorn rig

Kosmos has hired a Seadrill semi-submersible drilling rig for operations in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

By Bartolomej Tomic

Seadrill said Monday it struck a deal with Kosmos Energy Gulf of Mexico Operations for its West Capricorn offshore rig. The contract is for one well.

“Backlog for the contract is expected to be approximately $10 million and commencement is expected in Q4 2019,” Seadrill said.

To remind, Seadrill on April 19 said it had received an early termination notice from BP for the West Capricorn rig contract approximately three months ahead of schedule. The contract for the West Capricorn rig was originally expected to run through late July 2019 with BP. Seadrill at the time said it would receive early termination payments over the original contract term.

During its BP contract, the West Capricorn commanded a dayrate of, for today’s drilling world unbelievable, $543,000. As for the new contract with Kosmos, Bassoe Offshore has estimated it to be around $165,000 for a two-month term, more than 3x lower compared to its previous contract.

The West Capricorn is a 6th generation ultra-deepwater semi-submersible drilling rig built in 2011 by Jurong Shipyard in Singapore. The rig is of a Friede & Goldman ExD Millenium design.

The rig received the managed pressure drilling (MPD) notation from ABS last July. ABS said at the time that the West Capricorn was the first column stabilized drilling unit to receive the ABS MPD notation complete with the Maltese Cross, which denoted survey attendance from vendor fabrication to onboard installation.

Offshore Energy Today Staff

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