Nabors Offshore workover jackup Dolphin 109 completed its one-well contract with Marlin Energy, LLC and is now available for charter. The rig is stacked on location in West Cameron Block 132. It is believed Nabors may be close to securing further work for the rig, but nothing is confirmed at present. Those details will be reported if and when a contract is finalized.

Rowan jackup Rowan Louisiana has completed operations for McMoRan Exploration Co. in Eugene Island Block 26 and is now on location in Ship Shoal Block 188 for the first of two option wells available under the original agreement. The well has a planned TD of about 25,000 ft, with operations expected to last around 200 days.

Spartan Offshore jackup Spartan 208 has gone to work for Black Elk Energy, LLC on a one-well deal in Galveston Block 424. Workover operations should last around 20-25 days. The rig had been idle since the latter part of August prior to receiving the work.

Noble Energy, Inc. has been named operator of the Gunflint discovery in Mississippi Canyon 992 and 993 after a unitization agreement was finalized, and the company’s working interest has been revised to 26 percent. Reserve estimates at the Gunflint discovery are 70 to 500 MMBoe, and the first appraisal well is expected to spud next month.

McMoRan Exploration Co. announced its Lafitte ultradeep prospect, located on Eugene Island Block 223 in approximately 140 ft of water, has encountered additional hydrocarbons. The well has been drilled to a TVD of 29,756 ft and has been logged to 29,740 ft. Log results indicated 56 net ft of hydrocarbon-bearing sand over a 58-ft gross interval. Jackup Rowan EXL-I is drilling the well, and it was originally spudded in October 2010.

Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling, Inc. (TODDI) has filed a motion for summary judgment in the U.S. Eastern District Court in Louisiana requesting the court to force BP to honor its contractual obligation to defend, indemnify and hold harmless Transocean for damages associated with BP’s failure to contain flow from its Macondo well in 2010. Transocean says BP has refused to honor its contractual obligations despite what Transocean says is the industry-standard reciprocal indemnity provisions contained in the drilling contract. The original contract was signed in 1998 and extended several times up to and including in 2009. Language in the contract says BP will “defend, release, protect, indemnify and hold harmless” Transocean for any and all fines, penalties and damages associated with environmental pollution originating from the well “without limit and without regard to the cause or causes” including negligence, “whether such negligence be sole, joint, active, passive or gross.” The motion also asserts that after months of discovery and over 200 witness dispositions, it was clear that no evidence of gross negligence by Transocean existed. BP filed suit against Transocean on the one-year anniversary of the incident, alleging that Transocean personnel had willful and callous disregard for the welfare of ...

Rowan announced it has exercised its option to build a third GustoMSC P10000 design ultra-deepwater drillship with Hyundai Heavy Industries. Total cost for the rig, including commissioning, project management and spares, but excluding capitalized interest is $600 million, plus another $50 million for additional owner furnished equipment plus training and ramp-up costs. Delivery is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2014, and the agreement also includes an option for an additional drillship, which is exercisable by February 2012.

If exercised, that unit would be delivered in the first half of 2015. The Gusto-designed units are rated to drill in up to 12,000 feet of water and can drill wells up to a total depth of 40,000 feet. Delivery of Rowan’s first two units from Hyundai are scheduled for delivery in late 2013 and mid 2014.

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 ...

Reports are that Rowan Companies newbuild jackup Rowan EXL-IV may have a signed contract in place by the end of this week. While the potential customer is not known, market intelligence indicates Apache Corporation could be the operator getting the rig. The LeTourneau Super 116-E design rig, delivered from the Keppel AmFELS yard in Brownsville, Texas, on September 1, is currently undergoing systems testing while waiting on work and is expected to leave the yard in October.

Hall-Houston Exploration finally received its permit and now has jackup Hercules 212 on location in High Island Block 205. The ADTI turnkey well is expected to take around 30 days to complete. Meanwhile, jackup Hercules 214 has wrapped up operations for Apache Corporation in Main Pass Block 69 and is now on standby while it waits for its next contract to begin. That work will be for Phoenix Exploration Company, LP in nearby Main Pass Block 59 on a job that was switched from jackup Hercules 253. That rig is also on standby in West Cameron Block 38 while it waits to begin a threewell, 120-day contract with Hall-Houston, now expected to be in early October. Tana Exploration Company, LLC will then ...