Diamond Offshore’s drilling contracts backlog exceeded $2 billion at the start of July, the company said in a trading update.
Its most recent new addition was a 180-day award for the Ocean BlackRhino deepwater drillship in the US Gulf of Mexico (GoM) valued at $89 million and including two option periods.
Following the completion of its special periodical survey and managed pressure drilling upgrade at Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, the vessel should mobilize to the GoM in late December or early January, with the contract due to start in first-quarter 2025.
At the end of last month, Diamond received notice of early termination from the client of a one-well campaign offshore Côte d’Ivoire for the Ocean BlackRhino.
During the second quarter, the Ocean Apex completed an assignment for Inpex and then started a new contract that will keep the rig busy through first-quarter 2025.
In addition, the Ocean Patriot finished a plug and abandonment (P&A) program for Serica Energy in the UK North Sea and will remain on standby until early next year, which is when it is set to start a three-year P&A campaign for another operator.
Early last month, the Ocean GreatWhite semisub resumed operations in the North Sea following repairs. In February a lower marine riser package and riser string fell to the sea floor during stormy conditions while the rig was working for bp.
Earlier this year, Diamond executed a two-year contract extension with Anadarko Petroleum, a wholly owned subsidiary of Occidental, in the US GoM for the Ocean BlackHawk. The contract will start in November 2024, in direct continuation of the rig's current contract.
In early June, Noble Corp. and Diamond Offshore entered a merger agreement under which Noble will acquire Diamond in a stock plus cash transaction.
Analysis from Evercore ISI’s latest Offshore Rig Market Snapshot stated that the acquisition of Diamond Offshore will make Noble Corp. the fourth-largest drilling contractor in terms of fleet size. Additional analysis by Wood Mackenzie reported that Noble Corp.’s acquisition of Diamond Offshore means that four drilling contractors will account for more than 60% of the world’s total floater backlog.
