Atwood Oceanics, Inc. (NYSE:ATW) reported that one of its subsidiaries has accepted to a 4-month extension on the Atwood Orca with Mubadala Petroleum for drilling activities offshore Thailand. This new deal is at an unrevealed day rate that is higher than the prevailing day rate, and it comprises two four-month alternatives that are priced at continually higher day rates compared to the new firm day rate.
Following this deal, the anticipated earliest availability of the Atwood Orca remains to be August 2018, assuming no alternatives are used. If both options were to be used, the drilling plan would be anticipated to extend until around April 2019.
Atwood is a key offshore drilling contractor engaged in the completion of drilling and developmental and exploratory wells for the international oil and gas industry. The firm owns nine mobile offshore drilling units and is working on two ultra-deepwater drillships. It was established in 1968 and is headquartered in Houston. Atwood Oceanics common stock is traded on the NYSE under the ticker “ATW.”
The buzz
More recently, Atwood Oceanics reported interim unaudited operations report for the months of July and August and anticipated debt, liquidity and cash balances for FY2017 year-end. Fleet revenue efficiency was around 99% for August and 100% for July. Cash on hand as of close of September 2017 is projected to approximate the June 30, 2017 cash balance of $474 million. Long-term debt comprising of Senior Notes worth $448 million and the Revolving Credit Facility worth $850 million at June 30, 2017 is anticipated to remain unchanged at September 30, 2017
Rob Saltiel, the CEO and President of Atwood, expressed that despite reduced operating days and notable contract preparation work on company’s Condor, they anticipate to maintain their liquidity and cash balance through this quarter following robust operational performance, cash flow from current contracts and their focus on cost control.
