International offshore drilling contractor Ensco is planning to chop about 350 of offshore jobs as the corporate plans to stack extra rigs amid the downturn within the offshore oil and gasoline market.

The job cuts have been revealed in a letter to the Texas Workforce Commission reported by the Houston Business Journal. Ensco is predicated in London however its operations are managed out of its Houston, Texas workplace.

The rigs to be stacked embrace three drillships, the DS-3, DS-4 and DS-5, in addition to the corporate’s 8500 semi-submersible, the report stated.

The firm’s most up-to-date fleet standing report, launched April 11, confirmed the DS-3 as underneath contract with BP within the Gulf of Mexico till June 16. The DS-4 was listed as obtainable, whereas the DS-5 is meant to be underneath contract with Petrobras, however the drillship stays within the GoM as Petrobras has declared the contract void amid its huge bribery scandal. Meanwhile, the Ensco 8500 was listed as present process chilly stacking preparations.

According to the Houston Business Journal report, Ensco is anticipated to maneuver the DS-4 and DS-5 from the GoM to the Canary Islands for chilly stacking, the place they are going to be higher positioned to choose up future work.

Including the 4 rigs talked about right here, the corporate will now have 15 rigs chilly stacked, in accordance with its web site.