Ensco reports no damage to rigs in gulf after Ike

Sept. 16, 2008
Ensco International Inc., Dallas, reported it had not suffered any damage to 12 of its jack up rigs in the Gulf of Mexico following Hurricane Ike.

Uchenna Izundu
International Editor

LONDON, Sept. 16 -- Ensco International Inc., Dallas, reported it had not suffered any damage to 12 of its jack up rigs in the Gulf of Mexico following Hurricane Ike.

The company said it had 13 in the area but had been unable to find the Ensco 74 jack up, which had been operating on South Marsh Island Block 149 and was 92 miles from shore.

This rig is a MLT Super 116-C in 230 ft of water and is insured for $100 million.

"Aerial reconnaissance and a boat dispatched to the location failed to locate the rig. All personnel had been safely evacuated from the rig ahead of the storm," it added.

Ensco has a $50 million per occurrence retention for gulf windstorm damage losses with an aggregate annual limit of $155 million.

The company has remanned 8 of the jack up rigs found so far. ENSCO 7500, the deepwater semisubmersible rig, has returned to its drilling location and is preparing to resume operations.

Contact Uchenna Izundu at [email protected].