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.

Chevron Corporation announced a new oil discovery at the Moccasin prospect in the Keathley Canyon 736 Well no. 1 in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The well encountered more than 380 feet of net pay in the lower tertiary Wilcox Sands. The well is located in 6,759 feet of water and was drilled to TD 31,545 feet.

McMoRan Exploration Co. announced logging results from the Lafitte exploratory well located on Eugene Island 223 in 140 feet of water has shown some possible hydrocarbon pay zones. The well has been drilled to 27,038 feet and the company is preparing to deepen the well to TD 29,950 feet.

Hercules Offshore has received a new contract from Apache to take jackup Hercules 214, with the rig now under tow to location in Main Pass Block 68. Upon completion, the jackup will enter a yet-to-be-named shipyard for a 45-day ABS inspection. Jackup Hercules 150 completed a contract with Hilcorp Energy late last week, and the rig has just arrived on location in Eugene Island Block 28 for the start of a one-well contract with Rooster Petroleum. Work is scheduled to last around 25 days, making the rig next available in the second half of September.

Operations for ENI US Operating with semi ENSCO 8500 in Green Canyon Block 517 have ended, and the rig is now in East Breaks Block 602, where it is undergoing BOP modifications. Work is expected to take about 60 days, after which the rig will remain in the block for two wells with Anadarko Petroleum in the Nansen field. The rig is operating under a five-year rig sharing agreement between ENI and Anadarko that runs to August 2013. Reports continue to circulate that newbuild drillship ENSCO DS-3 will have a sublet contract signed shortly that will take it out of the US Gulf of ...

Transocean Services AS, a wholly owned subsidiary of Transocean, Ltd., has announced an all-cash, voluntary offer for all Aker Drilling ASA shares for NOK 26.50 per share. Aker Drilling’s board unanimously recommended that shareholders accept the offer. The offer price indicates an equity market capitalization of about NOK 7.93 billion, or $1.43 billion, assuming an exchange rate of NOK 5.53 to U.S. $1.00. This represents a 62% premium to Aker Drilling’s 30-day average price of NOK 16.39 per share. Additionally, Aker Drilling has net debt of $0.80 billion. Aker Drilling operates two harsh-environment, ultra-deepwater, sixth-generation semisubmersible rigs currently on long-term contract to Statoil ASA and Det Norske Oljeselskap ASA in Norway. Aker Drilling currently is expected to take delivery in 2013 of two sixth-generation drillships currently under construction at the DSME shipyard in South Korea.

ENSCO has signed contract extensions for two of its Gulf of Mexico jackups. First, Apache Corporation will keep the ENSCO 86 for another 120 days from the end of August. The rig is currently working in South Marsh Island Block 281 under the current term, which began May 1. Arena Energy has agreed to keep the ENSCO 90 for an additional two wells in ...

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 ...