Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Dolphin Drilling presentation of the third quarter 2024 financial results webcast and conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there'll be a question-and-answer session. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star one and one on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star one and one again. Alternatively, you may submit your question via the webcast. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to your first speaker today, Bjørnar Iversen, President and CEO. Please go ahead.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us for Dolphin Drilling, Bjørnar Iversen, third quarter 2021 financial results presentation. We're excited to share our latest updates of the company and insight with you guys. Today, we will present our financial performance, operational highlights, and the key events that have led us to this point. I'm Bjørnar Iversen, the CEO of Dolphin Drilling, and with me today, I have CFO, Chief Financial Officer, Stephen Cox, and Ingolf Gillesdal from Investor Relations. Before delivering or diving into the details of our financial performance this quarter, I'd like to highlight some key developments that demonstrate our progress. We recently celebrated a significant milestone with the successful commencement of the Blackford Dolphin's exploration drilling campaign in partnership with our client, Oil India Limited.
This marks a very important transition for our company as we move to a period with two active operations for the group. Furthermore, I'm pleased to report that Paul B. Loyd, Jr. continues to deliver strong results with no recorded incidents for the quarter and maintaining a very high rig uptime. This consistent performance underscores our commitment to operational excellence and safety across our fleet. We kindly ask you to take a moment after this presentation to review the important elements of the disclaimer. In today's session, we will cover our third quarter financials, safety and operational performance, and other key developments. We'll also discuss the company's solid revenue backlog position and our ongoing efforts to ensure all of our rigs continue to operate safely and remain under contract. Following our prepared presentation, we open up the floor for questions, and we look forward to a productive discussion.
We appreciate your continued support and interest in Dolphin Drilling. Let's start by examining the key financials and material events for the third quarter, as well as subsequent developments. I now hand over to our CFO, Stephen Cox, to begin the review.
Thank you, Bjørnar. We released our quarterly report for Q3 2024 earlier today, and here is a brief overview of the financial results. In Q3, we recorded revenues of $16.5 million, primarily generated from the Paul B. Loyd Jr. contract, supplemented by modest income from equipment rentals to third parties. The rig continues to demonstrate exceptional performance, maintaining an operating efficiency rate of 96% for the quarter and robust safety metrics. These financial results are consistent with the previous quarter, during which we also had only one rig under contract. Our two other rigs had no revenues booked in the quarter. Blackford was in transit to India, and Borgland was in Las Palmas undergoing her SPS works. As a result, we reported a negative EBITDA, significantly lower than the previous quarter.
This decline was primarily due to costs and time spent mobilizing the Blackford Dolphin to India following a delayed and disrupted exit from Nigeria. The Paul B. Loyd, Jr. experienced slightly higher operating costs compared to the previous quarter, mainly attributed to extra expenses associated with end-of-well work on the unit before relocating to a new drilling site. Our land-based organization costs remain consistent with the previous quarter. We continue to defend our position in the ongoing arbitration case in Nigeria and in the U.K. tax case, incurring legal costs of $1.4 million during the quarter. Despite these challenges, our overall G&A costs were in line with the previous quarter, reflecting our continued focus on cost control. Following the end of the quarter, the Blackford Dolphin commenced a contract with Oil India on the 11th of November and has performed fantastically well since, recording 100% uptime to date.
We are due to collect a mobilization fee during December this year. The Borgland Dolphin remained at Las Palmas. As notified last week, EnQuest elected to terminate the contract, and we have now received the approximate $21 million payment. Firm backlog consists of more than three years remaining work for the Paul B. Loyd, Jr. and three wells in India for the Blackford Dolphin, which are planned through early 2026. All backlog related to the Borgland Dolphin has now been removed. Moving on to key financials, as discussed previously, the extra transit costs and higher operating expenses for Blackford Dolphin have resulted in an EBITDA loss of $22.1 million, some $16 million lower than quarter two. The majority of this is driven by the running OpEx and transit costs of the Blackford Dolphin from Nigeria to India.
Following a lengthy delay in departure, various legal process issues, weather issues, and longer-than-anticipated port stops, a significant portion of the additional costs were attributed to vessels, not only in towing the unit but also in various support operations, including the startup in India. Further variations in quarter-over-quarter numbers were driven by adjustments to revenues related to amounts recognized in the previous quarter, an adjustment related to Blackford Dolphin OpEx in Q2, not repeating in Q3, and additional costs in the Paul B. Loyd, Jr. in the current quarter. For a more comprehensive review, I refer you to the earnings report released earlier today. The company concluded the quarter with a total cash balance of $37.6 million, down from $54 million as of June 2024.
Of this amount, $5.6 million is considered restricted due to its use in supporting various bonds and guarantees or because it is held in bank accounts outside our main banking locations. During September, we recovered a $3 million cash bond related to the temporary import of Blackford Dolphin to Nigeria, and there are no remaining cash balances in any Nigerian bank accounts. Dolphin's total debt comprises the MAP facility and the shareholder loan. This has a gross of a $6.5 million reserve amount, which is recorded in other current assets. We have no new material update on the ongoing arbitration process in Nigeria. Now, some high-level guidance on the forward liquidity situation for the company to the end of the year.
Following the Blackford contract startup in India and the collection of the termination fee related to Borgland, as well as the pausing of the SPS, we will stabilize company cash flows and cast many of the large variations we've been dealing with behind us. The graphic to the right shows an approximation of how we see the year-end 2024 shaping up and the large ticket items that have been impacting us. I hasten to add these are estimates subject to change and obviously timing. Regarding the Oil India mobilization fee, we do anticipate some deduction by Oil India regarding the late startup, and we remain in dialogue with the client on that subject.
Moving forward, the two rigs in operation will produce positive cash flow for the company, with G&A estimated to decline quarter on quarter based on returning to a more normal running cost base and a reduction in legal costs. We continue to assess visible opportunities on the Borgland and will assess liquidity requirements in light of developments on that rig. Next up on today's agenda is an update on the rig fleet, current rig tenders, initiatives, and our main strategic priorities from Bjørnar.
Thank you, Stephen. Dolphin at a glance. Dolphin Drilling is pursuing a strategy focused on securing long-term profitable contracts in some key growth markets. The company has recently commenced a significant long-term exploration drilling contract with Oil India, positioning ourselves for material improvement in revenue generation. The group now operates two semi-submersibles on long-term contracts, demonstrating its capabilities and ability to win and commence work around the world, utilizing our in-house marketing, technical, and operational teams. We have extensive worldwide experience working with exploration and production companies across most offshore basins for decades, and we have the in-house know-how that enables the efficient integration of people and equipment into our well-established systems. This is evidenced by the recent smooth startup for Paul B. Loyd, Jr.
into the Dolphin organization and also the late startup of Blackford Dolphin with Oil India, following a long transit and integration of new crews and services. Borgland Dolphin is currently marketed into multiple offshore basins, and we expect decision on these contract opportunities in the coming months. Paul B. Loyd, Jr.'s excellent operational performance. We are again pleased to see the continued strong operational performance achieved from our crews and teams operating the Paul B. Loyd, Jr. A strong safety record continues, same with the rig operational uptime. We are proud of the good safety record, with no lost-time incident recorded since the rig entered into the Dolphin Drilling fleet. Paul B. Loyd, Jr. is well underway in its long-term contract with Harbour Energy, potentially extending its operation into the next decade.
This rig is part of only a small selected group of semi-submersible rigs still active in the U.K., which are capable of drilling wells and supporting the massive number of required decommissioning projects in the U.K. This underpins the likelihood for Paul B. Loyd, Jr. to continue the work in the U.K. for many years to come. Blackford Dolphin commenced contract in India. Our second rig, now generating revenues for the company, is Blackford Dolphin. The journey of the Blackford Dolphin has been eventful during the last years. The rig's voyage began after concluding its operation in Nigerian waters. The rig then embarked on a long journey, covering approximately 8,636 nautical miles to reach its new destination in India. During its transit, the Blackford Dolphin made three scheduled stops, with the final one in Port Louis, Mauritius.
It departed from Mauritius on September 13th, 2024, en route to its final destination, offshore Port Blair in the Andaman Sea. The rig arrived in Indian waters in October 2024, where it underwent customs clearance and client acceptance procedures. Upon arrival, the Blackford Dolphin began the preparations for its new contract with Oil India Limited, and on November 11th, 2024, the Blackford Dolphin had officially commenced its long-term exploration drilling contract with Oil India Limited. This marked the beginning of a new chapter for the rig, now returning to drilling wells in India and contributing to India's ambitious energy goals. Let's then move to the Borgland Dolphin marketed for work. Moving on to Borgland, the unit was moved to Las Palmas from Norway in May 2024, where the special periodic survey began, also called SPS.
Our rig crew has kept the Borgland in great condition in the period leading up to the class renewal. Equipment and services have been tested and periodically run, and the hull and structure have proven to be in excellent condition. Following the recent contract termination, we have paused the class renewal. We immediately start to preserve the rig and the key equipment, and post this exercise, we will reduce layup costs estimated to be below the $30,000 mark per day. For today, we have completed approximately two-thirds of the class renewal, with spending in line with previous estimates. This means we will defer the remaining cost until we know the next contract for the Borgland. Then moving over to the fleet status, now showing two contracted rigs in the U.K. and India.
These drilling campaigns should provide a steady revenue stream for the company, and both have the potential to extend contract lengths. In the U.K., the Paul B. Loyd, Jr. is contracted until early 2028. Harbour is the U.K.'s independent oil and gas producing company and only paused by a short class renewal in the second half of 2025, which is expected to take around 30 days. In India, then, we have the Blackford Dolphin, commenced a few weeks back on its drilling contract, and we see attractive follow-on work opportunities for the rig in India, a country with high production targets for oil and gas in the years to come. As we mentioned earlier, Borgland Dolphin is marketed into multiple offshore basins, and we expect decisions on several of these contract opportunities in the months to come.
Let's then look at the agenda and go over to look at the market for the semi-submersible drilling rigs. Moored semi-submersible drilling rigs, tight supply balance, it says in the heading. Dolphin Drilling has centered its focus on the moored semi-submersible rig segment. You see that in the middle of the slide there, and we are specialists operating these rigs and currently operate and own three of them. Our rigs are capable of drilling in both harsh environment offshore basins as well as in benign waters, and our rigs can drill shallow water down to around 65 meters and as deep as approximately 1,800 meters. This is truly a versatile rig fleet, which can drill wells cost-efficiently and at a much lower fuel usage versus larger dynamically positioned drilling rigs. Next year, Dolphin Drilling will celebrate its 60 years anniversary as a drilling contractor.
In our opinion, the medium-term outlook for the offshore floating rig segment is largely driven by rig supply characteristics and the actual available rig supply. We are showing the fleet of the competitive moored semi-submersible drilling rigs. The rig supply is small and has continued to reduce in recent years due to the low day rate level, which has prohibited the reinvestment in this rig class. More than 75% of the worldwide moored rig fleet has been scrapped during the last decade, and the total rig count now is around 10 active rigs, and interest in these rigs covers offshore basins from Asia, India, West Africa, South America, Central America, the Gulf of Mexico, the North Sea, and parts of the Mediterranean.
We claim, based on counting the ongoing rig tenders and early discussions on future drilling campaigns, all of these active rigs still in class should have a very good prospect for work ahead. Okay, let's then move over to the demand side. Diving into the demand side for these rigs, external research indicates a good number of prospects requiring moored semi-submersible rigs. As we mentioned on the previous page, the small number of rigs remaining will need to service the total global requirements, meaning rigs may have to be sourced and mobilized between regions, as happened to us when we took the opportunity to relocate the Blackford Dolphin from Africa to India.
We have seen several rigs now being moved between regions from Asia to the Gulf of Mexico, from Asia to South America, and based on the recent reduced activity in the U.K., we will not be surprised to see more rigs leaving the U.K. for other destinations, which will, from a rig demand perspective, fulfill planned rig tenders. The market likely remains supply-driven, and programs may need to include longer drilling work programs in order to justify costly mobilizations. The international outlook remains very attractive from an overall rig supply point of view, but timing of actual commitments to move forward with drilling plans indicates some drilling project delays. Let's then have a quick look at the rate development, and in the header there, it says positive rate development.
Moving on to the review of day rates for the moored rig segment, here we see historical fixtures and day rate levels, and historically, the day rate path for these segments has followed the deep water segment with a discount of approximately plus or minus $100,000 a day, as you can see from the graph, and we have seen rate fixing at higher levels, average moving up to around $250,000 and increasing, as we see to the right in that figure. We are actively involved in several rig tenders today, and we expect fixtures to be awarded at this level and above in the coming months. We are then at the summary section of this quarterly presentation. Dolphin Drilling has come through a year with many uncertainties, having a strong impact on the company. A lot of uncertainty is taken out, and the company can now move forward with strength.
The company has two rigs on contract, providing for predictable cash flow for the next one and a half to two years and beyond. Returning Borgland Dolphin to work is clearly a catalyst for growing the group's revenues. However, we will only take on projects that make economic sense and provide the company with attractive returns. Through the company's close to 60 years' legacy, we are 60 next years in 2025, brand and operating platform, we are positioned to find work in most offshore basins, and we have the in-house systems required to participate in most rig tenders for our rigs, as well as marketing and operating other rigs.
The firm backlog counts $371 million as of data reporting, which should result in a strong cash flow generation for the company in the years ahead in a strong market for the last available rig, Borgland Dolphin. With this, we open up for questions.
Thank you. To ask a question, you will need to press star one and one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. Please limit yourself to one question and one follow-up only. To withdraw your question, please press star one and one again. If you wish to ask a question via the webcast, please type it into the box and click submit. Once again, if you would like to ask a question via the telephone, please press star one and one on your telephone keypad. There are currently no phone questions, so I will hand over to Stephen for webcast questions.
Yeah, thank you. So we have some questions coming on the webcast here. We'll try and work through these in an order, but bear with me while we navigate.
So a couple of things in here I think probably covered by the presentation, a question around stacking cost of Borgland. Bjørnar mentioned that we expect that to be sub $30,000 per day. It's obviously relatively new news for us to take that rig back to a stacking status, but somewhere below $30,000 a day is what people should think about. Equally, there's another question around Blackford's rate. That's undisclosed right now. We haven't put that into the market, but I'm sure people can work through that one. And I have another question about G&A expenses. The question is, will G&A expenses in 2025 be significantly less than G&A expenses in 2024? The answer to that is fundamentally it's driven by the legal expenses. We did incur a significant amount of legal expenses this year.
We would anticipate, of course, that is going to come down, so $1 million-$2 million off the models, at least on that one. Bjørnar, I'm going to push one your way, if that's okay. Of the 11 active rigs on slide 14, how many are you competing against in current tenders, and how many active tenders are you currently participating in? And that's a Borgland question.
Thank you, Stephen. Let me try. Yeah, as we said there, 11 rigs in the market, and what should I say? If you look at the last Oil India tender that we had, it turned out that we were the only bidder in the end there. So that's a signal that the market is tight. In the other tenders that we see, we normally see one or maximum two other competitors in the tenders we are currently, what should I say, working on and in negotiations on. I think that sums it up, one to two competitors per bid.
Y eah, perfect. And it's a slightly related question about active tenders for moored semis. The answer to that is yes, as Bjørnar mentioned. Particular active area, we won't disclose where they are, but let's say they're everywhere right now, I would say, international, U.K., Norway, everywhere is out there. Any risk of DP floaters crowding into our market?
No, the answer is, based on the one that we're currently working on, the answer is no. We don't see that as a risk on the current one we are currently working on. No.
And then, sorry to continue this, is there anything to stop us from competing for shallow water work that might usually be done by a jack-up? I guess that's a depth question.
I think we will see. I would say we probably will look at some opportunities, particularly around. I would say the Blackford could do in that area work, of course, down to around 60 meters. And we probably could look at some to pick up some of the more shallow work in that area if that makes sense, since there's relatively high cost of mobilizing jack-up into there if it's shorter campaigns. So the answer is yes, we probably could eat a little bit of the more deeper part of the jack-up market. We could potentially do that with the Blackford. I think that's the answer to that.
Yeah. Another question here, a question about the claim we have in Nigeria and the quantum of that claim. And again, this is not a piece of information that's out there, but what I can see about that claim is that there's over $70 million worth of unpaid invoices that is attached to that. Our quantum is obviously higher than that in terms of our claim. That is what is out there for us to chase in Nigeria. And then there's a question on the Q4 cash guidance. Do we assume the full mob fee from Oil India? And again, I think the way we have done the modeling on this one is we assume we will get almost all of that mob fee, but not the entire amount.
And as was mentioned during the presentation, we are discussing with the client the liquidated damages in terms of the late delivery of the rig and some of the issues that we experienced there, which were driven by factors well outside our control. So that's how that one will go. But we look forward to discussing that in the Q4 presentation early next year. That's all the questions. So we'll maybe leave it a little bit for anything else coming in or can revert to phone questions. But otherwise, I think, operator, we are potentially at the close here.
Thank you. There are no further phone questions. Would you like any closing remarks?
Yes, please. To sum it up, I think we thank you all for calling in. For us, the last quarter has been an eventful quarter where we were able to take out, what should I say, a lot of variables around the company. The company is stabilizing, as you see from the presentation now, with two rigs in operation with solid customers, and we are currently focusing on getting a contract on the Borgland, and I think as a closing remark, we would like to thank you all for showing interest in the company and backing us and for all of you to call in, so on that remark, I thank you all.
Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect. Speakers, please stand by.