traders bidding it up

Dear All,

It appears that the traders are starting to really get involved. The average volume and value is well up on the trades of Friday. Giddyup!

I had a look more widely on the internet and found the following news on the Block 105 contracted rig 'Ensco 107':-

4 May 2013

Exploration well 46/07-ND-1X was spudded today in Block 46/07, offshore Vietnam, by the partnership of the Block 46/07 PSC. The well is the first of the 3-well drilling campaign operated by subsidiaries of Mitra in Vietnam in 2013. The drilling operations are being carried out by the jack-up drilling rig "Ensco 107".

Mitra holds a 35% operating working interest in the PSC while the remaining interests in the PSC are held by Talisman (35%*) and PVEP (30%).

* Talisman farm-in of 35% has been consented to by Petrovietnam and remains subject to the approval of the Government of Vietnam.

http://mitraenergylimited.com/press_room.php?id=131


I see it has 112 berths, maybe a couple of you might like to share a two man stateroom with private toilet and shower so you can oversee the drilling.

http://www.enscoplc.com/Theme/Ensco/files/docs_rigspecs/ENSCO%20107.pdf


I also found a couple of recent articles on the Block 120 rig 'Songa Mercur':-

Russian offshore drilling to end earlier than anticipated

The shallow-water drilling platform used by Russian oil company OAO Zarubezhneft will leave Cuban waters June 1, to be redeployed to Asia, the company that owns the rig said.

The exploratory campaign of the Songa Mercur platform in Cuba ends June 1, “and the rig will thereafter be demobilized back to Asia where the rig is actively marketed,” Oslo-based Songa Offshore AS said in an April 4 update of its fleet performance.

The pullout of the Songa Mercur comes earlier than previously announced. The Soviet-built and Norwegian-owned semi-submersible was originally chartered by Zarubezhneft for 325 days, according to a Songa press release last year. Given the rig’s arrival Nov. 15 in Cuban waters, the charter would have expired sometime in fall 2013.

The pullout will effectively end all offshore exploratory drilling in Cuba, for now. A Zarubezhneft executive said last year the company expected to make an announcement about the results of the drilling in May.

The Songa report also said that the platform was idled in early April, due to technical problems with a crucial safety device. “The rig is currently in process of pulling its [blowout preventer] for evaluation of shear ram malfunctions and technical inspection of connector bolts in accordance with manufacturers’ instructions,” the April 4 report said. In March, the Songa Mercur achieved an operating efficiency of 99 percent in its drill for Zarubezhneft, the report said.

There are “concerns in Cuba that [Zarubezhneft] won’t have time” to drill deep enough by the pullout deadline in June, Simon Potter, a British oil executive, whose Bahamas Petroleum Co. plans to drill just 12 miles north of Songa Mercur’s location, told Bloomberg News April 18. Zarubezhneft officials did not return requests for information from Cuba Standard...

http://www.cubastandard.com/2013/04/19/russian-offshore-drilling-to-end-earlier-than-anticipated/



Songa Offshore SE : Songa Mercur secures contract with eniVietnam

Songa Offshore is pleased to announce that a firm contract has been agreed and signed with eniVietnam for the use of Songa Mercur for one firm well offshore Vietnam. The contract will commence in direct continuation of the rig`s current commitment and subsequent demobilization from Zarubezhneft (Cuba). The contract also includes one option well, and this option will have to be exercised prior to the contract commencement.

The firm part of the contract has an estimated duration of 45 days with aggregate revenue of approximately USD 14 million. The contract value is inclusive of a mobilization element, which supplements the demobilization fees paid by Zarubezneft.

Limassol, 22 April 2013

Questions should be directed to:

Geir Karlsen, CFO +47 23 01 14 24 / +47 91 60 83

This information is subject of the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/songa-offshore-se-songa-mercur-064735348.html



Eni charters Songa rig

Italian explorer Eni has signed up Songa Offshore’s semi-submersible Songa Mercur for a firm one-well contract off Vietnam worth $14 million.

The 45-day charter yields a dayrate of $311,000 including mobilisation fee for the 1989-built rig, with work to start once it is demobilised from its current contract with Russian player Zarubezhneft off Cuba in June.

The contract also includes an option for one additional well that must be exercised before start-up.

http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article1324043.ece



Songa Mercur 'eyes new Cuba job'

Songa Offshore’s semi-submersible Songa Mercur could return to Cuban waters in 2014 after it completes a one-well contract off Vietnam for Italian explorer Eni, according to a media report in Cuba.

Songa could not be reached for comment on the rig’s future status, though the Russian national news agency RIA Novosti reported an executive with the company as saying the rig will return to Cuba in late 2014 after the end of the hurricane season.

The Russian explorer Zarubezhneft was using the rig to drill an exploration well in Block L near the Old Bahama Channel when an incident with the blowout preventer forced it to halt operations.

Eni just recently picked up the rig for a firm well in Vietnam. The 45-day charter yields…

http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article1324808.ece