Item 7.01. Regulation FD Disclosure
Furnished herewith is a copy of the press release referred to in Item 8.01 of
this report, which is being furnished in accordance with Rule 101(e)(1) under
Regulation FD and shall not be deemed to be "filed" for purposes of Section 18
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and will not be incorporated
by reference into any registration statement filed under the Securities Act of
1933, as amended, unless specifically identified therein as being incorporated
by reference.
Item 8.01. Other Events
On September 30, 2009, Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc. (the "Company") issued
a press release announcing that a wholly owned subsidiary, Diamond Offshore
Drilling Limited, acquired from PetroRig II Pte Ltd the construction contract to
purchase the new-build, 7,500-foot, dynamically positioned semi-submersible
offshore drilling unit PetroRig II. The rig is to be renamed the Ocean Valor.
The purchase of the rig from Jurong Shipyard Pte Ltd is expected to be
completed on or about 1 October, 2009 in Singapore. The aggregate amount of the
consideration paid to acquire the construction contract and the remaining
payment due to Jurong Shipyard under the construction contract is approximately
$490 million exclusive of initial mobilization costs, final commissioning,
drillstring and necessary spares.
Statements in this report may contain "forward-looking statements" within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking
statements may include, without limitation, statements which project, indicate
or imply future results and may contain words like "expect," "intend," "plan,"
"will," "estimated" and "budgeted," among others. Such statements are inherently
subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results
to differ materially from those anticipated or projected. These factors include,
among others, the risk in connection with satisfaction of the construction
contract and delivery of the rig and the risk that a drilling contract will not
be obtained in a timely manner, general economic and business conditions,
changes in oil and natural gas prices, casualty losses, industry fleet capacity,
changes in foreign and domestic oil and gas exploration and production activity,
competition, changes in foreign, political, social and economic conditions,
regulatory initiatives and compliance with governmental regulations, customer
preferences and various other matters, many of which are beyond the Company's
control. Given these concerns, investors and analysts should not place undue
reliance on forward-looking statements. Each forward-looking statement speaks
only as of the date of this report. The Company expressly disclaims any
obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any
forward-looking statement to reflect any change in the Company's expectations
with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on
which any forward-looking statement is based. A further discussion of the risk
factors that could impact these areas and the Company's overall business and
financial performance can be found in the Company's reports and other filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission.