Hercules Offshore has sold four of its rigs that have been cold stacked in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GoM) since 2009. The jackup rigs are Hercules 85, Hercules 153, Hercules 203 and Hercules 206.
The news, which was mentioned May 19 in the company’s monthly rig feet status report, was delivered after the company reported in April a net loss of $57.1 million for first-quarter 2015.
“2015 is shaping up to be a very challenging year for our industry in general and our company in particular,” Hercules CEO John T. Rynd said in a statement. “Demand for jackup rigs remains weak in every region of the world and the market is still scheduled to deliver a significant number of newbuild rigs over the next several years.”
In addition, the rig fleet report showed two GoM rigs are ready for service, with contracts having just ended in April. These are the Hercules 205 and Hercules 264, the contract commencement for which is pending permit approval.
The company now has 11 rigs cold stacked in the GoM, some since October 2014. Of the remaining GoM rigs, four are under contract with customers, and three others tagged as warm stacked are being actively marketed, Hercules said in the report.
Offshore rigs appear to be coping a little better in other parts of the world. Of Hercules’nine international rigs, five—including one under construction—are under contracts with oil and gas companies, while one is warm stacked offshore Malaysia. The remaining three are ready stacked—two offshore Gabon and one offshore the Netherlands.
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