Rig contractor Ensco International has reported what looks like one of the first signs high-spec, new-build rigs can expect to earn a little less in the Gulf of Mexico, after at least one oil company re-negtiated rates.

Oil company Nexen's terms on the Ensco 8502 are down to the "low $470,000's plus cost adjustments" with a new contract that can change to "slightly" lower rates over three or four years. A two-year deal at higher rates was orginally agreed.

For both supplier and oil company, however, the deal represents predictable rig rates for the U.S. Gulf's deep water campaign, when drilling gets underway in mid-2010. The Ensco 8502 is the latest in the contractor’s new 8500 series and is still being built in Singapore.

The Ensco 8500 — just delivered and earning for the first time — will make a far lower day rate in the “mid-$270,000’s” on contract for Eni and Anadarko in the GoM. The oil companies made a lump-sum payment of $20 million to secure options for four years at the same-rate.

The newest Ensco rig, the Ensco 8501, is getting ready for an October work-start in the hurricane-prone Gulf, where Calgary’s Nexen and Noble Energy will pay in the “mid-$350,000’s for deepwater drilling.

Tags: ENSCO International Incorporated