About Seahawk
Company Overview
Seahawk operates an offshore drilling business that provides contract drilling services to the oil and natural gas exploration and production industry in the Gulf of Mexico. Our fleet of twenty mat-supported jackups are capable of operating in water depths of up to 300 feet and drilling to depths of up to 25,000 feet. We have the second largest fleet of jackups in the Gulf of Mexico. We contract with our customers on a dayrate basis to provide rigs and drilling crews, and are responsible for the payment of operating and maintenance expenses. Our customers are independent oil and natural gas producers and drilling services providers. Our competitors range from large, international drilling companies offering a wide range of drilling services to smaller companies who focus their business solely on the Gulf of Mexico shelf.
Strategy
Our strategy as an independent company is to improve the profitability, efficiency and reputation of our core business: providing jackup drilling services to the exploration and production industry in the Gulf of Mexico. We believe that our strengths, including our large jackup fleet in the Gulf of Mexico, our existing relationships with customers and our experienced management team, will enable us to achieve our goals. As an independent company, we will more effectively focus on our operations and potential for growth; delivering more value for our stockholders than we did as a subsidiary of Pride International.
Description of Our Rigs
Jackup rigs are mobile, self-elevating drilling platforms equipped with legs that can be lowered to the ocean floor until a foundation is established to support the drilling platform. Once a foundation is established, the drilling platform is jacked further up the legs so that the platform is above the highest expected ocean waves. The rig hull includes the drilling rig, jackup system, crew quarters, loading and unloading facilities, storage areas for bulk and liquid materials, helicopter landing deck and other related equipment. All of our rigs have a lower hull referred to as a “mat.” This mat is attached to the lower portion of the legs in order to provide a more stable foundation in soft-bottom areas, like those encountered in some shallow-water areas of the Gulf of Mexico, where independent-leg rigs are prone to excessive penetration and are subject to leg damage. After a rig is towed to the drilling location, its legs are lowered until the mat contacts the seabed and the upper hull is jacked to the desired elevation above sea level. Mat-supported rigs are generally able to position themselves on the worksite more quickly and move on- and off-location more easily than independent-leg rigs.
There are several factors that determine which type of rig is most suitable for a particular job. The most significant considerations are the water depth and sea floor conditions at the proposed drilling location, but one must also take into account the well position (if drilling is being done over a platform or other structure) and the intended well depth. Fourteen of our twenty jackup rigs have a cantilever design, which permits the drilling platform to be extended out from the hull to perform drilling and workover operations over a preexisting platform or structure. Six of our jackup rigs have a slot-type design, which requires drilling operations to take place through a slot in the hull. Historically, jackup rigs with a cantilever design have maintained higher levels of utilization than rigs with a slot-type design. Our rigs generally operate with crews of 15 to 40 people, but can accommodate up to 88 people when fully utilized.