Paragon Extends Jackup Rig Delivery at Waigaoqiao
Paragon Offshore plc, a global provider of offshore drilling rigs, reported that a wholly-owned subsidiary has signed an agreement with Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co., LTD., to extend the delivery date of the high specification Friede and Goldman JU-2000E jackup Prospector 7 to a date 12 months after the subsidiary has technically accepted the unit from the shipyard.
The company anticipates that technical acceptance of the unit will occur on or before December 31, 2015.
Under the terms of the agreement, no payments are due to the shipyard until the delivery date and upon completion of the delivery protocol.
Randall D. Stilley, President and Chief Executive Officer says that conditions in the contract drilling industry continued to worsen during the third quarter as customers continued to curtail capital spending in light of low commodity prices.
"There is no indication that conditions in offshore drilling markets will improve in the near future. Current oil prices suggest that our customers' 2016 capital budgets may be at or below 2015 levels, placing additional pressure on utilization and dayrates in our industry," he said.
"We expect oil markets to begin a recovery late in 2016, with drilling activity, particularly in shallow waters, to follow. In the meantime, Paragon remains committed to its strategy of supplying safe, reliable, and efficient operations to our customers. We will focus on our core areas of operation and continue to optimize our cost structure for this environment in order to best position ourselves for the recovery," Randall added.
