Pride's LatAm revenues climb 7.1% from Q1

The Latin American revenues of US-based drilling company Pride International reached US$117mn in the second quarter this year, up 7.1% from the first quarter thanks to better operating performance, president John O'Leary said in a conference call last week. Accelerated repairs on the Pride Brazil rig concluded ahead of schedule in the second quarter and could raise the regional year-end revenue forecast by US$7.2mn, he said. MEXICO Operating costs fell by US$3.5mn over the quarter, while revenues increased by US$1.7mn, due to better operating efficiency across all rigs in the area. The company did not provide the final figures. Improving market conditions will probably bring about reactivation of one of four presently idle jack ups in the fourth quarter, CEO Paul Bragg said. Pride is also keen about state oil company Pemex's commitment to start deepwater drilling, O'Leary said. BRAZIL Better operating performance in semi-submersible rigs generated a US$3.7mn revenue increase in Q2 from Q1, and reduced down time by 45.8% to 26 days in 2Q. Pride is currently carrying out final testing on the deep water, semi-submersible Pride Rio de Janeiro rig in Brazil. The rig should be ready for operations within some 90 days. "We will bid the rig to [federal energy company] Petrobras for any upcoming tenders over the next few months unless we are successful in direct contact negotiations, which have been on and off for sometime now," O'Leary said. In the second quarter, Pride also signed a contract to drill 5 wells in Brazil. TRINIDAD & TOBAGO The Pride Venezuela rig is still idle in Trinidad and has not yet been contracted out because of "fierce competition and subdued demand," O' Leary said. Pride has 29 rigs operating in Mexico, Brazil and Venezuela, which include 7 semi-submersible, 14 jack ups, 3 platforms, 2 barges and 3 management contracts. Pride has 228 land rigs throughout Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Mexico, Ecuador and Venezuela, which contributed to a 13% increase in regional gross margin from 1Q04 to US$26mn in the second quarter.