OGX Taps Diamond for Drilling Rigs

Brazilian oil and gas startup OGX, which went public in June, has chosen Houston-based Diamond Offshore Drilling to lease 2 existing offshore drilling rigs. The semi-submersible rigs, called Ocean Ambassador and Ocean Lexington, will each be chartered for 3 years. OGX has been in discussion with Queiroz Galvao for a similar deal, but terminated talks on reaching agreement with Diamond. OGX says it is looking to contract up to two additional ships, and that exploration of the offshore blocks it won in a December government auction will begin in H2 2009. The charter will be financed with OGX’s own resources from its $3.4bn IPO in June. The stock is down 32% since launch, closing at BRL770 Friday.