Rowan Companies, Inc. has received a letter of intent from W&T Offshore, Inc. for the jack-up Gorilla IV.
The commitment is for two wells covering a minimum term of 150 days, which will begin when the rig is released from its current drilling assignment. Rowan expects to earn approximately $30m of drilling revenues over the minimum term.
The Gorilla IV is currently drilling for McMoRan on the Blackbeard Prospect. The Company estimates that the rig will be available for W&T by early in the first quarter of 2009.