Ocean Rig announces new drilling contract and increased contract backlog
Ocean Rig UDW Inc. an international contractor of offshore deepwa ter drilling services, has signed a new drilling contract with Statoil, for a one - well drilling program offshore Tanzania, the company said in its press release.
The contract is expected to commence in Q1 2018, to be performed by the Ocean Rig Poseidon. In addition, Lund in Norway AS has declared their fifth option to extend the existing contract of the Leiv Eiriksson, which is now expected to have firm employment secured until March 2018.
Ocean Rig has granted Lundin two additional options to drill further wells in the future. Should Lundin exercise its remaining seven one - well options, the rig could be employed until the middle of 2019 . As a result, Ocean Rig has increased its estimated contract backlog by approximately $20 million.
About Ocean Rig UDW Inc.
Ocean Rig is an international offshore drilling contractor providing oilfield services for offshore oil and gas exploration, development and production drilling, and specializing in the ultra - deepwater and harsh - environment segment of the offshore drilling industry. Ocean Rig’s common stock is listed on NASDAQ Global Select Market where it trades under the symbol “ORIG.”