Contract driller Diamond Offshore said it will start to recrew its three deepwater semisubmersible rigs in the US Gulf of Mexico Friday, now that former Hurricane Isaac has moved inland and was downgraded to a tropical depression, Diamond investor relations director Darren Daugherty said.
The company has a startup crew moving out on the Ocean Victory, which "for us is the most important rig for us right now," since the other two -- the Ocean Saratoga and Ocean Whittington -- are not currently working, Daugherty told Platts in a telephone interview.
After the initial crew lands on the Victory, "the rest of the crew should be flown out tomorrow," he said. "I haven't heard any problems with roads" so the crews should be able to get out to pickup points, he said.
The Victory is contracted to Eni on Mississippi Canyon block 299 at the Seventeen Hands field in about 5,881 feet of water, according to information supplied by the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. The rig is earning $419,500/day on a two-year contract which expires in August 2013, according to Diamond's most recent fleet status report.
The Victory was moored in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and because of a tethering system "was able to ride out" the storm," said Daugherty.
Meanwhile, Diamond's rig Saratoga, which is being actively marketed, also has a startup crew en route out to the rig on Friday. Like the Victory, the Saratoga "will be recrewed tomorrow" in Pascagoula, said the official.
Also, the Whittington had remained in the West Cameron area of the US Gulf offshore western Louisiana before the hurricane moved through and hit southeast Louisiana on Tuesday night. "All its crew should be back this afternoon," said Daugherty. "It was in a little safer location" to begin with.
At 10 a.m. CDT (1500 GMT), Isaac was sited 100 miles south-southwest of Springfield, Missouri, and moving north-northwest at 11 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.
