Ocean Rig has reached a US$25 million settlement agreement with Premier Oil and Noble Energy over disputed invoices for the Eirik Raude semisubmersible.
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Image of the Eirik Raude, from Ocean Rig. |
According to the company’s Q4 2016 report, the agreement was reached on 6 February.
“This settles all claims by all parties,” Ocean Rig said.
In February 2016, Premier Oil sent a termination notice for the rig, and dropped its plans for the Chatham prospect in its Falklands drilling campaign, due to "a number of material operational issues with the Eirik Raude rig during the term of the contract to date," the company said at the time.
Premier and Noble had jointly hired the Eirik Raude on a rig share basis for their respective Falklands drilling campaigns for 2015-2016.
Ocean Rig had originally claimed termination fees of up to $62.9 million. However, the operators refuted the claims, and made counter-claims against Ocean Rig.
Ocean Rig also reached an agreement with ConocoPhillips on 10 February to terminate the contract of the Ocean Rig Athena. As part of the agreement, ConocoPhillips will pay a termination fee. The Ocean Rig Athena is presently en-route to its final lay-up location in Greece where the unit will be cold stacked, Ocean Rig said.
Ocean Rig also disclosed that it continues to explore and consider various strategic alternatives with its financial and legal advisors, which may include a possible restructuring of the company’s debt.
“The company expects that any comprehensive deleveraging plan is likely to result in significant dilution to current shareholders and potential losses for other financial stakeholders. If a consensual solution cannot be reached among all stakeholders, the company will consider all available options including implementation of a restructuring plan through schemes of arrangement or under Chapter 11,” Ocean Rig said.
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