It's a great thing when you own something that others desperately want. When you hold the trump card, you can usually get pretty good terms. Shareholders at TODCO (NYSE:THE) no doubt understand this concept as a shortage of jack-up rigs in the Gulf of Mexico is playing squarely into this company's hands.
We all know that the market for offshore drilling has heated up, much to the satisfaction of companies like Transocean (NYSE:RIG), Noble Corp (NYSE:NE), and GlobalSantaFe (NYSE:GSF). We also know, though, that Hurricanes Rita and Katrina did a number on some U.S. Gulf of Mexico operators -- including knocking out about nine jack-up rigs. As the only owner of a significant number of cold-stacked (that basically means "held in reserve") rigs, TODCO should certainly be in the right place at the right time.
And it's not as though the third quarter was anything to fret over, either. Revenue rose better than 50%, and the company reversed year-ago operating and net losses as EBITDA more than doubled. Befitting the strong demand conditions for the drilling market, TODCO's Gulf rigs saw average revenue per day climb nearly 68% and inland barge per-day revenue climb about 29%. Although reported utilization rates look low, that's because they include the cold-stacked rigs; for the rigs that were actively marketed, utilization was quite high.
Given that there was already a Gulf rig shortage before the storms, I think it's pretty safe to assume that rig pricing in the region is going to stay strong. In order to take advantage of this situation, the company is hoping to reactivate all of its idled offshore units before the end of the year. It won't be doing this willy-nilly, though. Rather, the company will be seeking out contracts for the units that ensure profitable operation.
So long as energy prices (particularly natural gas) don't crash, there should be at least a few more good years left in the drilling cycle. Though I tend to be a bit skeptical about the potential of holding these stocks for the long term, there still could be money left to be made in the here and now. That could be particularly true for TODCO, as reactivating its mothballed units should lead to major year-on-year earnings growth for the next few quarters.
Drill into more Foolish thoughts:
- BJ Thrives on Pressure
- Diamond Delivers the Gold
- Rita Spares the Worst
- In the Wake of Katrina: Drillers
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Fool contributor Stephen Simpson has no financial interest in any stocks mentioned (that means he's neither long nor short the shares).
