Q3 Quotes
ESV on 2010:

"But virtually all of our customers are budgeting for increased activity of jackups and how all that plays out through the budget cycle and when it starts coming into effect will remain to be seen. I can just tell you that it's universally positive in every market that we operate in(my words-which is pretty much every market)."

NE-on slowdown in deepwater rig tenders:

"I'd add to that is that let's say two years ago when operators were signing up deepwater rigs, they had to operate, with a two year lead time, because that was the supply chain. Now, with supply coming onto the market, they don't have to move quite as quickly. So I think there's a lot of this kind of who blinks first behavior going on. I'm confident the demand build is there, but the operators are working hard to shield it."


NE-on PBR


"What is your appetite for building new builds, specifically in Brazil?"

"But the economics, I think are still very challenged to build rigs in Brazil. The tender is out. We will evaluate the tender, we've got a very good relationship with Petrobras. We would certainly like to be involved and we intend to pursue it vigorously, but it's got to make sense for our shareholders. We're not here to subsidize Petrobras, we're here to make money for our shareholders and if we can figure out a way to do that, we'll be involved and if we can't, we'll let somebody else do it."


Jim, keep in mind, they've got letters of intent, these other 12 rigs that they've committed to previously, and I think everybody is aware Petrobras is yet to admit that it's unlikely they'll get all of those 12 rigs. And so even with the plan that’s operating another 28 rigs, I agree with Roger a thousand percent, I think it's very likely that they will be back in the market for additional rigs before the delivery of anything they may build in Brazil and deliver in 2014 or 15. I think it's very naive to believe they're going to put all their future in A: the current fleet and B: the new build rigs. So I think, yes I think whole heartedly they'll be in the market picking up additional rigs."

NE on shipping companies and their drillships:

"They have had mixed and not a great deal of good success of putting those rigs under contract. I think the story with each one is a little bit different, although as far as we know, they're still continuing to pursue various avenues for those rigs, but the cost base of those rigs makes it prohibitive just to go out and just try to take them out. They've ordered equipment from ship yards, they've bought slots and they've ordered equipment from suppliers, they've bought slots at ship yards and they've committed capital, so somebody is going to have to take a hit to make those some of those were north of $700 million assets."

NE on RIG stacking more jackups than NE:

"I think you got to keep in mind, Kevin, that whoever is the biggest fish in the pond always kind of has to take a leadership role and they find themselves very often, we've been there different times, they're bidding against themselves very often. So it's understandable for them to take the strategy they've taken."



So the cost to take them out is well above what a newly placed new construction cost would be say for Globetrotter which we think we could build right now for around $500 million. So they're there, we’d have to ask them exactly what their degree of stress looks like. We haven't seen them run into the market to alleviate that stress yet."