Texas-headquartered ExxonMobil has extended its contract with Danish offshore driller Maersk Drilling for the ultra-deepwater drillship Maersk Viking in the Gulf of Mexico, albeit at a much lower day rate.
in the Gulf of Mexico, albeit at a much lower day rate.The deal pre-empts the ending of the original 2014 contract which is scheduled for July this year.
It is a 150-day extension for the rig, operating in the Julia field 200 miles south of New Orleans in the Walker Ridge area, and is worth $22.5m in total.
That amounts to a day rate of around $150,000, considerably less than the original three-year contract’s rate of $500,000.
Maersk’s statement about the extension acknowledged difficult times in the industry but said it has made cost reductions in recent years.
