Greek shipping company wins $160m Ghana oil contract

Oct 15 (Reuters) - Greek drybulk shipper and deepwater driller DryShips Inc said its year-long contract to drill five wells off the coast of Africa was worth about $160 million, ending weeks of uncertainty over the value of the deal and sending its shares up 5 percent.

The company, which has been struggling to find contracts for its drilling rigs signed the contract, initially valued at $135 million, in September, a move that was seen easing the funding concerns it faced. [ID:nSGE68R0IQ]

It amended the contract earlier this month to increase the contact period by 60 days to 360, and the number of wells to be drilled by 1 to 5, but declined to disclose details on pricing or who it signed the deal with. [ID:nSGE6930I2]

On Friday, the company said the contracts were signed with with units of Vanco Overseas Energy Limited for projects in which Vanco is operator and Lukoil Overseas majority co-venturer.

The contract, for exploration drilling offshore Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire, will start in the second quarter of 2011, DryShips said. DryShips said the contract may be extended for an extra year or include an additional well, prior to completion of operations on the second well.

Chief executive George said in a statement the fundamentals of the ultra deepwater market have strengthened substantially in the last couple of months.

"While this hasn't manifested itself in the form of rising rates yet, we are experiencing a surge in activity," Economou said.

Shares of the company were up 5 percent at $4.83 in premarket trade. The stock, which is off about 40 percent from an October 2009 year-high, closed at $4.60 Thursday on Nasdaq.