11 April 2013 – Total has signed up for another year with a drillship as the French super-major firmed up an option worth $180 million.
The company will now have Pacific Drilling’s unit Pacific Scirocco for a further 12 months through January 2015.
Pacific said the new firm deal is worth $180 million, equating to a dayrate of around $493,000. This is above the $470,000 a day at which Total originally signed up to the drillship for one year firm starting at the very end of 2012.
That initial deal also included four one-year options, one of which has already been taken with the second now confirmed as firmed up. Total retains two more one-year options which together would bring another $364 million to Pacific.
Although it is not known if this $364 million would be spread evenly over the two years, on average per year it equates to $2 million more than the newly-hatched option.
The Pacific Scirocco began life for Total off Nigeria having been delivered from South Korean yard Samsung Heavy Industries in 2011.
It can accommodate 200 people and drill in water depths of 12,000 feet to a drilling depth of 40,000 feet.
*Eoin O’Cinneide, Upstreamonline.
