Northern Offshore, Ltd. (Oslo Bors: NOF.OL) announced that its subsidiary, Northern Offshore U.K. Ltd., has completed its 120 day drilling contract offshore Greece utilizing the jackup rig Energy Exerter. The company said that the rig was under tow to a location offshore Malta where it would be cold stacked until drilling opportunities in the Mediterranean Sea improve.
The drilling contract for the work offshore Greece included a requirement that the operator provide a letter of credit in Northern's favor in the amount of $4.6m, representing approximately five weeks of dayrate. The company said that it had drawn the full amount of the letter of credit in partial settlement of amounts due from the operator and additionally expects to take a write-off of approximately $2.5m in the third quarter of 2009.
(www.northernoffshorelimited.com)