Songa reported that a firm contract for the use of Songa Mercur has been agreed and signed with Gazflot LLC, a Gazprom subsidiary. The contract covers the use of the Songa Mercur for Gazflot's upcoming drilling campaign offshore Sakhalin Island during the 2011 summer season. The rig is currently scheduled to depart from Singapore during May 2011 after completion of BOP rebuild work followed by a testing and verification period.

The firm part of the contract is set to 180 days including mobilization from and de-mobilization back to Singapore. Aggregated total revenue of approximately USD 46 million is expected to be generated from the firm part of the contract.

The Company has in parallel to the above entered into an agreement with the previous operator to get released from the contractual obligation of returning with the rig to its last well for finalization of the committed program.

Tags: Gazprom, Songa Offshore ASA