Kosmos Energy signs contract for new drillship

Kosmos Energy Ltd. signed a long-term rig agreement with a subsidiary of Atwood Oceanics Inc. for the newbuild drillship Atwood Achiever, scheduled for completion in June 2014 and expected to commence drilling operations in the second half of 2014.

The 3-year contract outlines a day rate of $595,000 with an option to extend the contract for an additional 3-year term. Kosmos of Dallas anticipates using the drillship for exploration offshore Morocco (OGJ Online, July 2, 2011).

The Atwood Achiever is an ultradeepwater, dynamically positioned drillship with enhanced offline capabilities and two blowout preventer systems. The rig’s capabilities include drilling to 40,000 ft in 12,000 ft of water.

In addition to the Atwood Achiever rig, Kosmos is pursuing additional rig capacity for exploration drilling in the first quarter of 2014.