UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): September 21, 2010
HERCULES OFFSHORE, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
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Delaware
(State or other jurisdiction
of incorporation)
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0-51582
(Commission File Number)
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56-2542838
(I.R.S. Employer
Identification No.) |
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9 Greenway Plaza, Suite 2200
Houston, Texas
(Address of principal executive offices)
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77046
(Zip Code) |
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (713) 350-5100
Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously
satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General
Instruction A.2. below):
o Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
o Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
o Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
o Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))
Item 7.01 Regulation FD Disclosure
On September 21, 2010, Hercules Offshore, Inc. (the “Company”) is posting on its website at
www.herculesoffshore.com a report entitled “Hercules Offshore Fleet Status Report” (the “Fleet
Status Report”). The Fleet Status Report includes the Hercules Offshore Rig Fleet Status (as of
September 21, 2010), which contains information for each of the Company’s drilling rigs, including
contract dayrate and duration. The Fleet Status Report also includes the Hercules Offshore
Liftboat Fleet Status Report, which contains information by liftboat class for August 2010,
including revenue per day and operating days. The Fleet Status Report is furnished as
Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and is incorporated herein by reference.
The information furnished pursuant to Item 7.01, including Exhibit 99.1, shall not be deemed
to be “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and will not be
incorporated by reference into any registration statement filed by the Company under the Securities
Act of 1933 unless specifically identified therein as being incorporated therein by reference.
The information and statements made in the Fleet Status Report that are not historical facts
are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements include
statements concerning estimated contract expiration dates, dayrates, estimated dates for completion
of repairs and upgrades and commencement dates of new contracts, as well as information that may be
affected by the continued delays in obtaining drilling permits in the Gulf of Mexico. Such
statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including without
limitation, early termination by the customer pursuant to the contract or otherwise, cancellation
or completion of certain contracts earlier than expected, operational difficulties, shipyard and
other delays, government and regulatory actions and other factors described in the Company’s annual
report on Form 10-K and its most recent periodic reports and other documents filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available free of charge at the SEC’s website at
www.sec.gov or the company’s website at www.herculesoffshore.com. The Company
cautions you that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that
actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected or implied in these
statements.
Item 8.01 Other Events.
On June 8, 2010, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Regulation and Enforcement (BOEM)
issued a Notice to Lessees (NTL) outlining various new safety related regulations for offshore
drilling operations. On June 18, 2010, a second NTL was issued outlining additional information
which will be required to secure drilling permits. Shallow water drilling operations may be
permitted as long as the terms of these new NTL’s are met. We are currently working with a number
of our customers in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico to help them comply with our understanding of these new
requirements. However, according to the BOEM website, as of September 21, 2010 only six permits
for new wells that comply with the new regulations have been approved in the approximately three
months since the new NTL’s were issued. While we have found short-term work for several of our
rigs on workovers, plug & abandonments, and sidetracks of existing wells, approval of permits for
these types of activities has also slowed significantly.
Given these new regulations and the time required for our customers to interpret and comply
with the requirements, further delays in permitting activity may continue for an indefinite period
of time. Our idle rigs and our other rigs that are scheduled to complete their contracts over the
next several weeks are unlikely to secure new contracts until our customers receive new drilling
permits. In addition, we believe that some of our customers do not have drilling permits that would
cover the entire duration of our contracts in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.
Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits
Exhibit 99.1 Hercules Offshore Fleet Status Report