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

Delaware		0-51582		56-2542838
(State or other jurisdiction		(Commission File Number)		(I.R.S. Employer
of incorporation)				Identification No.)

9 Greenway Plaza, Suite 2200
Houston, Texas		77046
(Address of principal executive offices)		(Zip Code)

     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 October 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 October 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 September 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, our ability to renew or extend our long-term international contracts, or enter into new contracts, at current dayrates when such contracts expire, 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 October 21, 2010 only twelve permits for new wells that comply with the new regulations have been approved in the approximately four 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

(d) Exhibits

     Exhibit 99.1 Hercules Offshore Fleet Status Report

SIGNATURE

     Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

EXHIBIT INDEX

Exhibit No.		Description
99.1		Hercules Offshore Fleet Status Report