AUSTRALIAN operator Beach Energy says it will defend legal action from Diamond Offshore over the termination of a rig contract. Lawyers for the rig giant this week argued in court that Beach's decision last month to terminate a contract for the semi-submersible Ocean Onyx was one of the key factors which led the company to file for Chapter II bankruptcy in the US. Diamond noted it had made about US$100 million in modifications to the rig in Singapore before it was set to start a yearlong offshore drilling programme for Beach in the Otway basin, off Australia's south-east coast. However, the rig arrived in waters off Victoria later than the date originally specified in the rig contract and Beach used this technicality to cancel the charter as it joins the raft of operators cutting capital expenditure in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
展开▼
