China’s CNOOC Africa subsidiary has awarded Atwood Oceanics a drilling services contract for its Atwood Hunter semisubmersible rig offshore Equatorial Guinea.

The deal specifies a dayrate of US $337,000 for a minimum term of 90 days, and includes an option for one additional well. For any term exceeding the 90 day period the dayrate for days 91-180 would be $330,000, while any rate beyond that would be $325,000.

The rig is expected to start the contract mid-August this year.

In connection with this contract, an Atwood subsidiary and Guinea Ecuatorial de Petroleos (GEPetrol) mutually agreed to terminate the parties’ previously-announced contract for the Atwood Hunter, provided certain conditions are met. That cancelled deal was for a substantially higher dayrate of $515,000 but the unit has been idle since April this year so this is seen by Atwood as a positive outcome, which positions the rig well for potential future work offshore West Africa following on from its CNOOC contract.

Offshore