Drilling contractor Ensco has secured a contract worth $480 million with US independent Anadarko Petroleum for the final ultra-deepwater semi-submersible rig of its 8500 series.
The Ensco 8506 has been chartered by Anadarko for an initial two-and-a-half years at a dayrate of $530,000, plus cost adjustments.
The newbuild rig, capable of drilling to a depth of 35,000 feet, is due for delivery from Singapore yard Keppel Fels in the third quarter and is set to start working in the Gulf of Mexico in the fourth quarter.
It is the third such unit to be contracted by Anadarko, having drilled the Lucius discovery with the first rig, Ensco 8500, in 2009 and contracted the Ensco 8505 as part of a rig sharing agreement with Apache and Noble Energy in October last year.
