Ocean Rig UDW Inc. announces fleet update

Ocean Rig UDW Inc., a global provider of offshore deepwater drilling services, has announced that the Ocean Rig Olympia has successfully started its new contract in Angola as of 15 August 2015. The rig is expected to move to the Ivory Coast for one well in the 4Q15 and return to Angola to complete its remaining contract until June 2016. Currently, there are no prospects for further employment and if no employment is found the rig will be cold stacked and the respective SPS will be postponed.

The Ocean Rig Skyros has successfully started its new six year contract in Angola as of 1 October 2015.

The Eirik Raude is currently completing its third well in a six-well program in the Falklands and is now expected to remain employed in the Falkland Islands into January of 2016. Currently, there are no further prospects of employment for the rig in the Falkland Islands and if no employment is found the rig will be cold stacked and the company will consider all its options including disposing or scrapping the unit.

The Leiv Eiriksson is in the process of completing its current well in Norway. As of the date of this press release, there is no further program for the unit under its current contract, which is expected to expire in March 2016. Currently, there are few further prospects of employment for the rig and if no employment is found the rig will be cold stacked and the Company will consider all its options including disposing or scrapping the unit.

The Ocean Rig Mylos is in the process of completing its current well in Brazil. On 25 September 2015 we received notice of material breach under the contract, which entitles our client to terminate the contract if such breach is not remedied within 75 days. We believe that such notice is totally without merit and we intend to vigorously defend our rights under the contract.

George Economou, Chairman and CEO, commented: "The market continues to remain challenging due to the massive spending cuts initiated by the oil companies. In this environment, cash preservation and liquidity remain our number one priority and we will adjust our available capacity to the new market conditions. For rigs that we cannot secure long-term employment that are coming up for their 5-year SPS we will cold stack the units and in the case of the semisubmersible rigs seriously consider all our options including disposal or scrapping."

Edited from press release by Angharad Lock

Read the article online at: https://www.oilfieldtechnology.com/drilling-and-production/08102015/ocean-rig-udw-inc-announces-fleet-update-1559/