Tuscany International Drilling Announces Contracts With HRT Oil and Gas, Provides Update on Other Contracts, New Rig Deployment and US$30 Million Loan Drawdown Under Existing Credit Facility
CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - Nov. 3, 2010) -
THIS PRESS RELEASE IS NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR TO ANY UNITED STATES NEWS SERVICES. ANY FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THIS RESTRICTION MAY CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF U.S. SECURITIES LAWS.
Tuscany International Drilling Inc. (TSX:TID) ("Tuscany" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has signed two contracts with HRT Oil and Gas ("HRT"). Under the contracts with HRT, Tuscany will provide two 1500 hp heliportable drilling rigs in Brazil, beginning operations in the first quarter of 2011. The term of the contracts is four years with an option to renew. The contracts have the potential to generate over $100 million of revenue over the initial term of the contracts.
Tuscany is pleased to be a key drilling rig provider to HRT, who recently concluded a successful initial public offering. The contracts with HRT represent Tuscany's entry into Brazil and the Company has opened operational and administrative offices in Rio de Janeiro and Manaus in order to support operations and services in the country.
A drilling contract has also been signed with a Peruvian affiliate of Gran Tierra Energy Inc. to provide a heliportable rig in Peru, which marks Tuscany's entry into Peru. In addition, a number of contracts have been signed in Tuscany's existing operating areas of Colombia, Ecuador and Guyana.
Of the eight newly constructed rigs remaining to be deployed to South America, four have been shipped and are currently unloading in ports in South America. Three are unloading in Santa Marta, Colombia and the fourth rig is unloading in Callou, Peru. A fifth newly built rig has been transported from Red Deer, Alberta to Houston, Texas and is scheduled to be shipped to South America on November 6, 2010 and a sixth newly built rig is scheduled to be loaded and trucked from Red Deer to Houston on November 8, 2010 and shipped to South America in mid November 2010. The two remaining rigs, destined for Brazil, are anticipated to complete construction in November 2010 and be transported immediately upon completion.
Tuscany currently has nine rigs operational in South America. The Company plans to have its current fleet of 17 rigs completely operational in South America in January 2011 with nine rigs in Colombia, four in Ecuador, two in Brazil, one in Peru and one in Guyana.
In addition, the Company has drawn an additional US$30 million loan under its existing senior secured guaranteed term credit facility with Credit Suisse, who is acting as one of the lenders and as the Administrative Agent. US$45 million remains available to be drawn under the facility, subject to the Company complying with certain conditions. In consideration for underwriting the upsize of the facility, Tuscany granted Credit Suisse and another underwriter the aggregate of 2,400,000 share purchase warrants. The warrants are exercisable at US$1.50 per warrant, expire 2.5 years from the date of grant and are subject to a hold period expiring on March 3, 2011. Loan proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes including short term working capital as the rig fleet is deployed, initial costs associated with the expansion into Brazil and Peru, upgrades to existing equipment, and for completion and deployment of the two 1,500 hp drilling rigs destined for Brazil.
Source: http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Tuscany-International-Drilling-Announces-Contracts-With-HRT-Oil-Gas-Provides-Update-TSX-TID-1346310.htm
Petroleo Brasileiro SA, Brazil’s state-controlled oil company, said it’s leased 20 foreign drilling rigs to begin operation in the next two years as it seeks to boost oil and gas output at offshore fields.
Domestic shipyards will also start delivering the first of an additional 28 rigs to be built in Brazil by about 2014, Petrobras Chief Executive Jose Sergio Gabrielli said today at an event in Rio de Janeiro. Environmental permits have complicated the contracts to build the rigs locally, he said.
Petrobras, based in Rio de Janeiro, is contracting rigs from overseas oil-services providers to help tap offshore deposits such as Libra and Tupi, the largest discoveries in the Western Hemisphere in the past three decades. Brazilian government regulations also dictate that the state-owned company should prioritize some purchases from local suppliers.
Oslo-based Seadrill Ltd, which supplies Petrobras, rose 84 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $33.64 at 2:12 p.m. New York time. Four of Seadrill’s 11 deepwater rigs were located in Brazil in the third quarter, according to the company’s website.
Petrobras has contracted 18 rigs to be delivered in 2011 and 2012, and may have to hire more to compensate for potential construction delays in Brazil, according to Jud Bailey, an analyst who covers oil drillers at Jefferies & Co. in Houston.
‘Bridge the Gap’
It is “very unlikely” local suppliers will deliver the 28 rigs in the next three-to-seven years that Petrobras is expecting, Bailey said today in a telephone interview.
“There’s been a lot of talk that they would come out and tender for incremental rigs in 2011 and 2012,” he said. “They could contract them to bridge the gap.”
Petrobras will probably be unable to receive the rigs it needs in Brazil until 2015 because of the lack of existing infrastructure, Pride International Inc Vice President Kevin Robert said in a Nov 4 conference call with investors. Pride rents deepwater rigs to Petrobras, which may need to tap international contractors further, he said.
Brazil holds the largest oil discoveries in the Americas since 1976, and Petrobras plans to invest $224 billion in the five years through 2014 to boost oil production and refining. Gabrielli said Petrobras will get the rigs on time and meet its long-term production targets.
THIS PRESS RELEASE IS NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR TO ANY UNITED STATES NEWS SERVICES. ANY FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THIS RESTRICTION MAY CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF U.S. SECURITIES LAWS.
Tuscany International Drilling Inc. (TSX:TID) ("Tuscany" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has signed two contracts with HRT Oil and Gas ("HRT"). Under the contracts with HRT, Tuscany will provide two 1500 hp heliportable drilling rigs in Brazil, beginning operations in the first quarter of 2011. The term of the contracts is four years with an option to renew. The contracts have the potential to generate over $100 million of revenue over the initial term of the contracts.
Tuscany is pleased to be a key drilling rig provider to HRT, who recently concluded a successful initial public offering. The contracts with HRT represent Tuscany's entry into Brazil and the Company has opened operational and administrative offices in Rio de Janeiro and Manaus in order to support operations and services in the country.
A drilling contract has also been signed with a Peruvian affiliate of Gran Tierra Energy Inc. to provide a heliportable rig in Peru, which marks Tuscany's entry into Peru. In addition, a number of contracts have been signed in Tuscany's existing operating areas of Colombia, Ecuador and Guyana.
Of the eight newly constructed rigs remaining to be deployed to South America, four have been shipped and are currently unloading in ports in South America. Three are unloading in Santa Marta, Colombia and the fourth rig is unloading in Callou, Peru. A fifth newly built rig has been transported from Red Deer, Alberta to Houston, Texas and is scheduled to be shipped to South America on November 6, 2010 and a sixth newly built rig is scheduled to be loaded and trucked from Red Deer to Houston on November 8, 2010 and shipped to South America in mid November 2010. The two remaining rigs, destined for Brazil, are anticipated to complete construction in November 2010 and be transported immediately upon completion.
Tuscany currently has nine rigs operational in South America. The Company plans to have its current fleet of 17 rigs completely operational in South America in January 2011 with nine rigs in Colombia, four in Ecuador, two in Brazil, one in Peru and one in Guyana.
In addition, the Company has drawn an additional US$30 million loan under its existing senior secured guaranteed term credit facility with Credit Suisse, who is acting as one of the lenders and as the Administrative Agent. US$45 million remains available to be drawn under the facility, subject to the Company complying with certain conditions. In consideration for underwriting the upsize of the facility, Tuscany granted Credit Suisse and another underwriter the aggregate of 2,400,000 share purchase warrants. The warrants are exercisable at US$1.50 per warrant, expire 2.5 years from the date of grant and are subject to a hold period expiring on March 3, 2011. Loan proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes including short term working capital as the rig fleet is deployed, initial costs associated with the expansion into Brazil and Peru, upgrades to existing equipment, and for completion and deployment of the two 1,500 hp drilling rigs destined for Brazil.
Source: http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Tuscany-International-Drilling-Announces-Contracts-With-HRT-Oil-Gas-Provides-Update-TSX-TID-1346310.htm
Petrobras CEO Says Will Add 20 Foreign Rigs by 2012
Petroleo Brasileiro SA, Brazil’s state-controlled oil company, said it’s leased 20 foreign drilling rigs to begin operation in the next two years as it seeks to boost oil and gas output at offshore fields.
Domestic shipyards will also start delivering the first of an additional 28 rigs to be built in Brazil by about 2014, Petrobras Chief Executive Jose Sergio Gabrielli said today at an event in Rio de Janeiro. Environmental permits have complicated the contracts to build the rigs locally, he said.
Petrobras, based in Rio de Janeiro, is contracting rigs from overseas oil-services providers to help tap offshore deposits such as Libra and Tupi, the largest discoveries in the Western Hemisphere in the past three decades. Brazilian government regulations also dictate that the state-owned company should prioritize some purchases from local suppliers.
Oslo-based Seadrill Ltd, which supplies Petrobras, rose 84 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $33.64 at 2:12 p.m. New York time. Four of Seadrill’s 11 deepwater rigs were located in Brazil in the third quarter, according to the company’s website.
Petrobras has contracted 18 rigs to be delivered in 2011 and 2012, and may have to hire more to compensate for potential construction delays in Brazil, according to Jud Bailey, an analyst who covers oil drillers at Jefferies & Co. in Houston.
‘Bridge the Gap’
It is “very unlikely” local suppliers will deliver the 28 rigs in the next three-to-seven years that Petrobras is expecting, Bailey said today in a telephone interview.
“There’s been a lot of talk that they would come out and tender for incremental rigs in 2011 and 2012,” he said. “They could contract them to bridge the gap.”
Petrobras will probably be unable to receive the rigs it needs in Brazil until 2015 because of the lack of existing infrastructure, Pride International Inc Vice President Kevin Robert said in a Nov 4 conference call with investors. Pride rents deepwater rigs to Petrobras, which may need to tap international contractors further, he said.
Brazil holds the largest oil discoveries in the Americas since 1976, and Petrobras plans to invest $224 billion in the five years through 2014 to boost oil production and refining. Gabrielli said Petrobras will get the rigs on time and meet its long-term production targets.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-09/petrobras-to-add-20-foreign-oil-drill-rigs-by-2012-ceo-says.html
