15 July 2009contract award▲ GoodMajor
The VICKSBURG avoided the ready-stack fate flagged the month before, winning a three-to-six-month NuCoastal contract in Thailand at $90,000-95,000/day -- modest work, but work.
Announcements, explained
Each one in plain English, with the numbers worked through for a shareholder.
1 July 2009production update▼ BadMajor
The SOUTHERN CROSS's idle period is now expected to run through most or all of the fourth quarter; the VICKSBURG is undergoing an $8 million shipyard upgrade and could also end up ready-stacked afterward if no contract is found.
5 June 2009production update▼ BadMajor
The SOUTHERN CROSS is now confirmed ready-stacked with no contract, its operating costs being cut toward $50,000/day; the HUNTER is finishing its Israel work before moving to the big Ghana contract, and the VICKSBURG is finishing its Thailand work.
13 Apr 2009contract award● Neutral
The RICHMOND picked up a single-well Gulf of Mexico contract at $52,500/day, a fraction of the rates Atwood's larger rigs were commanding just months earlier.
11 Mar 2009drilling progress report▼ BadMajor
For the first time in years, two rigs came up without follow-on work: the BEACON's India contract ends in July with nothing lined up after, and the VICKSBURG's Chevron Thailand contract ends in June with the same gap -- a sign the boom-era demand was cooling.
26 Nov 2008debt financing● NeutralMajor
Weeks after Lehman Brothers' collapse, Atwood expanded its credit capacity again -- amending its existing Nordea facility (now $200 million drawn) and adding a separate new credit agreement -- proactively shoring up liquidity as the financial crisis hit.
10 Oct 2008drilling progress report▲ GoodMajor
The HUNTER lined up a four-year megacontract with Noble Energy and Kosmos Energy in the Eastern Mediterranean at dayrates in the $500,000s -- among Atwood's richest contracts yet -- while the EAGLE lost about $2.4 million in the quarter to unplanned downtime.
16 Sept 2008contract award▲ GoodMajor
The FALCON locked in a two-year South China Sea contract at a record $425,000/day, the SOUTHERN CROSS headed to West Africa at $352,000/day, and the RICHMOND rode out Hurricane Ike undamaged with no lost drilling time.
28 Aug 2008production update● Neutral
Routine fleet status update; no new incidents or contract changes were highlighted beyond the standard report.
22 Aug 2008debt financing▲ GoodMajor
Atwood amended its $300 million credit facility to allow up to $300 million more in permitted debt, with $170 million already drawn -- more room to fund the newbuild program.
18 Aug 2008contract award▲ GoodMajor
The ATWOOD AURORA, still under construction, was awarded a two-year, $165,000/day RWE contract offshore Egypt. The SOUTHERN CROSS received a conditional one-well West Africa commitment at $262,500/day during mobilization and $352,000/day while drilling.
8 July 2008production update● Neutral
Routine fleet status update; no new incidents or contract changes were highlighted beyond the standard report.
7 July 2008debt financing● NeutralMajor
Atwood ordered a third newbuild from Jurong in Singapore, a dynamically positioned semisubmersible rated for 10,000 feet of water. It is due in mid-2012 at an estimated $750-775 million, and unlike the Chevron-contracted first Jurong rig, no contract was mentioned.
25 June 2008security holder rights change▲ Good
A second 2-for-1 stock split in two years took effect, with the shareholder rights plan's share-purchase ratio adjusted to match -- a sign of how far the stock had run during the drilling boom.
5 June 2008production update● Neutral
Routine fleet status update; no new incidents or contract changes were highlighted beyond the standard report.
2 Apr 2008production update▲ Good
The HUNTER's Petronas contract extended into early September and the rig is being marketed at a premium to its current rate; the SOUTHERN CROSS is set to move to the $406,000/day ENI job in Italy once its Turkish work wraps up.
4 Mar 2008drilling progress report▲ Good
Dayrates kept climbing: the SOUTHERN CROSS moved from a $320,000/day Turkish contract to a $406,000/day two-well job for ENI in Italy, while the HUNTER resumed work for Petronas (as Woodside's farm-out) at $240,000/day and the SEAHAWK's Hess contract in Equatorial Guinea extended to March 2009.
14 Feb 2008security holder rights change● Neutral
Shareholders approved another increase to authorized shares, from 50 million to 90 million, continuing the pattern of charter amendments accompanying the company's rapid growth.
15 Jan 2008production update▲ Good
A previously-flagged $1.7 million billing dispute settled for a smaller-than-feared $900,000 hit to the quarter (about $0.03/share).
9 Jan 2008drilling progress report▼ Bad
A rough quarter for uptime: unplanned downtime on the HUNTER, EAGLE and SEAHAWK cut revenue by about $3 million ($0.09/share), while the RICHMOND spent 81 days in a planned life-extension shipyard and the HUNTER entered its own shipyard in Malta before heading to the Woodside contract now farmed out to Petronas.
3 Jan 2008debt financing▲ GoodMajor
Atwood locked in a second newbuild -- a semisubmersible under construction at Jurong's Singapore yard, already contracted to Chevron Australia for three to six years at $450,000-470,000/day -- while announcing that Chevron contract itself.
14 Nov 2007security holder rights change● Neutral
The board created a plan letting non-employee directors defer their stock and cash compensation, a routine governance addition.
1 Nov 2007debt financing▲ GoodMajor
Atwood signed a new $300 million, five-year revolving credit facility led by Nordea Bank, secured by mortgages on the EAGLE, HUNTER and BEACON, replacing its 2003 credit agreement. Nothing had been drawn, and it was meant to fund future growth.
28 Sept 2007production update● Neutral
Shell temporarily assigned its ATWOOD FALCON drilling slot to Petronas Carigali for four wells at the same dayrate before the rig returns to Shell -- a scheduling arrangement between two of the rig's customers, not a change of contract.
12 Sept 2007production update▼ Bad
Zero-rate days across four rigs -- regulatory inspections and equipment issues -- cut fourth-quarter revenue by about $3.4 million ($0.10/share); the RICHMOND kept working for Helis Oil & Gas in the Gulf of Mexico at $80,000/day.
2 July 2007production update▼ Bad
A rig move for the SEAHAWK and some fleetwide downtime trimmed about $0.03 off the quarter's per-share earnings, even as the SOUTHERN CROSS started its new TPAO contract at $290,000-320,000/day.
5 June 2007production update● Neutral
Melrose deferred two option wells for the SOUTHERN CROSS until after the rig's already-booked TPAO contract -- a scheduling shuffle, not a change in demand.
28 Mar 2007production update▲ Good
The ATWOOD HUNTER's Woodside contract was extended to April/May 2008 with a dayrate bump to $245,000 as it relocated from Mauritania to Libya; the SOUTHERN CROSS kept drilling for Melrose off Bulgaria with options that could extend the work into August.
1 Feb 2007production update▼ Bad
Fleetwide operating costs ran higher than normal in early fiscal 2007 -- year-end bonuses, startup costs on rigs entering new regions (Thailand, India, West Africa) and the HUNTER's inspection downtime all added up, though none of it changed the outlook.
23 Jan 2007production update● Neutral
Routine fleet status update; no new incidents or contract changes were highlighted beyond the standard report.