A subsidiary of UK-based provider of offshore drilling services Ensco has secured a $480m contract from US firm Anadarko Petroleum, for the ultra-deepwater semi-submersible rig of its 8500 series.

Ensco 8506, the drilling rig, has been engaged by Anadarko for an initial contract term of two-and-a-half years, at a day rate of $530,000, plus cost adjustments.

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Delivery of the rig, from Singapore-based Keppel FELS Limited shipyard, is scheduled for the third quarter of 2012 and work on it is scheduled to start in the fourth quarter of 2012 once mobilisation, sea trials and acceptance testing are complete.

Ensco chairman, president and CEO Dan Rabun said: "Anadarko was an early advocate of the Ensco 8500 series design and contracted Ensco 8500 back in 2005."

The Ensco 8500 began operations in 2009, and soon after drilled Anadarko’s major Lucius discovery in the US Gulf of Mexico.

Anadarko contracted Ensco 8505 as part of a rig sharing agreement with Apache and Noble Energy in October 2011. Ensco 8505 is scheduled to begin operations in the second quarter of 2012 and Ensco 8506 is the final of seven rigs in the firm’s 8500 series.

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The proprietary design of the Ensco 8500 series rigs was developed with extensive input from customers to address the drilling requirements for virtually every deepwater field around the world.

The design includes a 35,000ft nominal rated drilling depth, 2 million lb of hoisting capacity, 8,000t of variable deck load and an open layout for subsea completion activities.

The uniform design of the Ensco 8500 series streamlines construction, operations, inventory management, training, regulatory compliance, repairs and maintenance. In addition, the 8500 series may be modified to drill and complete wells in water depths of up to 10,000ft.