Out Fox The $treet

In a previous article , I explored the bifurcation in the deepwater drilling sector with a focus on the legacy stocks having older rigs not suited for modern exploration demand. This article will focus on the group of modern rig operators not facing the issue of rigs over 20 years old. Analysts are negative on the whole sector, though the modern drillers – Seadrill Limited ( NYSE: SDRL     ) , Ocean Rig UDW ( NASDAQ: ORIG     ) , and Pacific Drilling SA ( NYSE: PACD     ) – are in the attractive position of having modern drillships replacing older rigs operated by the legacy drillers. Read the full article here . Disclosure: Long SDRL. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

The longtime promises of Pacific Drilling's   ( NYSE: PACD     ) ultra-deepwater drillships continue to get investors nowhere fast. The stock went public at the end of 2011 to quickly jump to the $10 level. Pacific Drilling has gone virtually nowhere over the last couple of years as it builds its fleet. Pacific Drilling is focused on providing global ultra-deepwater drilling services to the oil and natural gas industry through the use of high-specification drillships. The company took delivery of its first drilling ship at the end of 2010 and now operates five ships with three more under construction. Read the full article here . Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

On Friday, Pacific Drilling (PACD) announced a 5-year contract for the Pacific Sharav that amounts to over $1B in revenue. According to the presentation at Global Hunter Securities, the dayrate amounts to $555,000 for the term. The deal was hinted at during the Q112 earnings report so possibly the terms shouldn't be used to read too much into the current strength of the deepwater markets. Worth noting though is that the rig won't be delivered until the fourth quarter of 2013. With its best-in-class drillships and highly experienced team, Pacific Drilling is a fast growing company that is committed to becoming the industry's preferred ultra-deepwater drilling contractor. Pacific Drilling's fleet of seven ultra-deepwater drillships will represent one of the youngest and most technologically advanced fleets in the world. The company currently operates four recently delivered drillships, has two additional drillships under construction and one on order at Samsung. Read ...