Atwood Oceanics, Inc. (NYSE:ATW) (the "Company") announced today that one ofits subsidiaries has entered into a turnkey construction contract with DaewooShipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co., Ltd. ("DSME") to construct a fourthultra-deepwater drillship, to be named the Atwood Archer, at the DSME yard inSouth Korea. The Atwood Archer is expected to be delivered by December31, 2015 at a total cost, including two blowout preventers ("BOPs"), projectmanagement, drilling and handling tools and spares, of approximately $635million. Upon delivery, the Atwood Archer will become the seventeenth mobileoffshore drilling unit owned by the Company.
The design of the Atwood Archer will be identical to the previously orderedAtwood Advantage, Atwood Achiever and Atwood Admiral - all four drillships areDP-3 dynamically-positioned, dual derrick ultra-deepwater drillships rated tooperate in water depths up to 12,000 feet and drill to a depth of up to 40,000feet.
This order comprises the execution of the option that was set to expire on June30, 2013. In connection with the exercise, the Company has also secured anoption to construct a fifth ultra-deepwater drillship at a similar cost to theAtwood Archer and with an expected delivery in September 2016, and whichrequires exercise by March 31, 2014. At this time, the Company has made nodetermination as to whether the option will be exercised.
Atwood Oceanics, Inc. is a global offshore drilling contractor engaged in thedrilling and completion of exploratory and developmental oil and gas wells. TheCompany currently owns thirteen mobile offshore drilling units and isconstructing four ultra-deepwater drillships. The Company was founded in 1968and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. Atwood Oceanics, Inc. common stock istraded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "ATW."
