Vantage bags big Petrobras gig
By Upstream staff
Houston outfit Vantage Drilling said today it has secured an 8-year ultra deep-water drillship contract with Brazilian state-run Petrobras worth $1.6 billion.
Petrobras will take the Vantage-run Titanium Explorer, upon completion of construction in the third quarter 2011, to the US Gulf of Mexico.
There it is expected to replace rigs that have been diverted for work on the giant Brazilian pre-salt plays, Vantage head Paul Bragg told UpstreamOnline, confirming the deal.
Under the contract, Petrobras has the right to re-locate and utilise the Titanium Explorer on a worldwide basis.
Vantage will operate the rig pursuant to a management agreement, which provides for fixed and performance-based fees. The ship is owned by an affiliate of TMT.
Vantage also said in a Web posting it has finalised a previously announced five-year contract with India’s Oil & Natural Gas Company worth $1.1 billion.
Under the contract, ONGC will mobilise Vantage’s Platinum Explorer in the fourth quarter next year.
The Platinum Explorer is owned 45% by Vantage and fifty-five 55% by an affiliate of TMT.
Vantage will operate the rig pursuant to a management agreement which provides for fees to Vantage, in addition to its proportionate share of cash flow.
ONGC had been locked in price talks with Vantage since August, with ONGC finally locking in a reported rate of $585,000 per day, marking a significant reduction from the $730,000 dayrate initially tendered by the Houston-based contractor.
Both rigs are currently being constructed in Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering in Okpo, Korea.
"The deepwater contracts with ONGC and Petrobras are of major significance to Vantage,” Bragg said in a release. “The addition of nearly $3 billion of contract backlog provides our company with a stable base of business for many years to come.”
