ATW Atwood Oceanics, Inc. (delisted)

Atwood Announces Contract Awarded to the ATWOOD FALCON HOUSTON, March 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Atwood Oceanics, Inc. (NYSE:ATW) (Houston based International Offshore Drilling Contractor) announced that through its wholly owned subsidiary Atwood Oceanics Pacific Limited the ATWOOD FALCON has been awarded an additional contract by Sarawak Shell Berhad ("Shell") to drill seven (7) firm wells with options for six (6) additional wells off the coast of Malaysia. The rig is currently mobilizing to Japan to drill two (2) wells for Japan Energy Development Co., Ltd. Immediately upon completion of the Japan Energy commitment (estimated August/September 2005), the rig will mobilize back to Malaysia to commence the additional work for Shell, which is estimated to take approximately nine months to drill the seven firm wells and could extend another seven to eight months if all option wells are drilled. The contract provides for a dayrate for the first well drilled of $53,000 to $83,300 depending upon the water depth of the well. This is a carryover of an exercise of one remaining option under the previous Shell contract. For the remaining six firm wells, the dayrate will be $93,000. All option wells drilled will have a dayrate of $113,000. Statements contained in this release with respect to the future are forward-looking statements. These statements reflect management's reasonable judgment with respect to future events. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated as a result of various factors; the Company's dependence on the oil and gas industry; the risks involved in upgrade to the Company's rigs; competition; operating risks; risks involved in foreign operations; risks associated with possible disruptions in operations due to terrorism; and governmental regulations and environmental matters. A list of additional risk factors can be found in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 2004, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. DATASOURCE: Atwood Oceanics, Inc. CONTACT: Jim Holland of Atwood Oceanics, Inc., +1-281-749-7804 Web site: http://www.atwd.com/

Copyright