Ensco plc sold its ENSCO 85 jackup rig for $64 million, the company announced on 24 April 2014.
The sale is part of trend among jackup rig providers including Transocean, Maersk Drilling, Noble, and Seadrill to modinize their fleets (See "Jackups on the rise" in OE May 2014).
Since 2010, Ensco has sold 14 jackups, earning $90 million pre-tax, and taken delivery of 12 high-performance rigs including five Samsung DP3 ultra-deepwater drillships, five ENSCO 8500 Series ultra-deepwater semisubmersibles and two ENSCO 120 Series ultra-premium harsh environment jackups (pictured). Ensco says the eight rigs – five premium jackups and three ultra-deepwater drillships – it currently has under construction underscore its commitment to standardization (See "Standardization - A hot topic at UTC 2013").
Ensco announced in April that it ordered two jackups, the Ensco 140 and 141–based on the LeTourneau Super 116E design–to be built at the Lamprell shipyard in UAE, due mid-2016. The jackups will serve the Middle East market.
“Year to date, we have sold three jackup rigs and recently we ordered two ENSCO 140 Series jackups,” said Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Jay Swent. “Continuous high-grading keeps us at the forefront of industry technology and we continue to have the largest premium jackup fleet in the world.”
The Ensco 85 is an independent leg cantilever jackup based on the LeTourneau Class 116-C design that was built in in Singapore in 1981. It is capable of operating at 300ft water depth and drilling down to 25,000ft. The net book value of the rig sold was $54 million. The pre-tax gain, Ensco said, was around $10 million, which will be included in the company's 2Q 2014 operating results.
Image: The Ensco 120 series jackup. Photo from Ensco.
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