Spartan Offshore has received a further extension from Century Offshore that will now keep jackup Spartan 303 under contract through May 2012. The rig has been working for Century since mid-February.

Hercules Offshore received contract extensions for two jackups recently. First, Hall-Houston extended its deal on the Hercules 212 for two wells in East Cameron Block 160. The rig is currently under tow to the new location, with work expected to keep the rig busy for around 90 days, making it next available for work around the end of January 2012. Pisces Energy has also exercised its option on the Hercules 263. The rig has now arrived on location in South Pelto Block 13 where it is expected to be until mid-December when a 50-day contract with Tana Exploration in set to begin. The Hercules 150 has arrived in Sabine Pass where it will undergo 45-50 days of leg repairs after it suffered a punchthrough trying to get on Tarpon Offshore’s location in West Cameron Block 265. It has not yet been determined if Tarpon will wait for the rig or switch to an alternative unit. The jackup is also scheduled to go to Arena Offshore for a 45-day ...

Diamond Offshore jackup Ocean Titan was the low bidder on Part 1 of Pemex Tender 514-11 opened on July 5. The program calls for a 350-ft IC jackup for an 872-day contract starting August 13, 2011. Final award will be made July 19. The rig has been stacked in West Cameron Block 84 since mid-June after it completed a contract with ANKOR Energy. In Parts 2 and 3 of the tender, no bids were submitted for either; the requirements were voided and will be re-tendered at a later date.

ABS surveys and repair work have been completed on jackup Hercules 120, and the rig has returned to its contract with Chevron, moving to South Timbalier Block 37 late last week. The rig is under contract through the end of the year, with two 6-month options remaining. Jackup Hercules 204 has begun the final well of its contract with Pisces Energy, LLC. The well in Ship Shoal Block 227 is scheduled to take about 30 days, after which the rig will go to Stone Energy Corporation for a two well, 60-day contract. With all the work, the rig would next be available in mid-October. Breton Energy, LLC received its permits ...

ABS surveys and repairs on jackup Hercules 120 are now scheduled to be completed in mid-July, but the rig may not return to its contract with Chevron Corporation until early September or October. Chevron picked up the Hercules 201 as a substitute rig, and that contract will not be completed until early September if an outstanding 30-day option on the rig is not exercised. Hercules Offshore, Inc. says it will market the Hercules 120 to other operators during the gap should Chevron opt to not resume the contract in mid-July. The firm portion of the Hercules 120 contract does not end until December 31, but Chevron also has two, six-month priced options available should it choose to exercise them. Meanwhile, Rooster Petroleum, LLC will pick up jackup Hercules 150 for a 25-day well in Eugene Island Block 28 in mid-August. The rig will finish its current contract with Hilcorp Energy Company in late July, after which it has a 14-day shipyard stay scheduled. The new work now keeps the rig employed into the first week of September. Apache Corporation also has exercised an option to keep jackup Hercules 200 for an additional 60 days, with wells in West Cameron Block ...

Hercules Offshore has canceled the remainder of its contract with Great Gulfcan Energy with jackup Hercules 212, and the rig is hot stacked in West Cameron 38. The rig had been working in High Island 98-L and was originally scheduled to complete the work in mid-July, but financial issues with the operator led to the cancellation. Shipyard work on jackup Hercules 120 has not been completed, and now the rig is not expected to return to its contract with Chevron until late June. The rig, which is under contract through the end of 2011, was originally due to return to work May 25. Pisces Energy will now keep jackup Hercules 204 for an additional well in Ship Shoal 151. The operator now has the rig through end-July, after which it will go to Ship Shoal 112 for a 40-day well with Stone Energy. With the extension, the rig is now next available in the first half of September. Finally, inland barge Hercules 17 has secured a follow-up contract with Energy Partners, Ltd. for a 42-day well. Work will begin later this week after the current contract with Marlin Energy is completed. The new work keeps the rig busy to mid-July....

Hercules Offshore finalized its purchase 20 jackups from Seahawk Drilling on April 27. Seven of the Seahawk rigs are currently working with nearly 500 days of contract backlog. The seven contracted rigs have been renamed as follows: Seahawk 2001 (Hercules 212), Seahawk 2004 (Hercules 213), Seahawk 2007 (Hercules 214), Seahawk 2600 (Hercules 263), Seahawk 2601 (Hercules 264), Seahawk 2602 (Hercules 265) and Seahawk 3000 (Hercules 300). In addition, cold stacked rigs Seahawk 2006 was renamed Hercules 209, the Seahawk 2504 is now the Hercules 256 and the Seahawk 2505 was renamed Hercules 259. For the remaining nine jackups, Seahawk was replaced with Hercules but the rig numbers remained the same.

Hercules Offshore has received two new contracts that will keep jackup Hercules 204 working to late July. The rig is preparing to move this week to Ship Shoal Block 151 for a 45-day well with Pisces Energy. Upon completion of that work in mid-June, the rig will go to Ship Shoal Block 112 for a 40-day well with Stone Energy. The rig has been briefly stacked in Eugene Island Block 113 after completing a contract with LLOG Exploration. Also, Chevron has extended contracts on jackups Hercules 120, Hercules 173 ...