Hercules Offshore Inc. (HERO) said Wednesday that it is negotiating a contract to manage and market a pair of new harsh-environment drilling rigs that are expected to be ready to operate in 2013.

Hercules, which announced the talks in a regulatory filing, didn't say with whom it is negotiating or where the rigs, which will be able to drill in water depths of up to 400 feet, might operate. The company also said "there can be no assurances" a deal will be reached.

Son Vann, the Houston company's director of investor relations and finance, declined to comment on the disclosure, which accompanied Hercules' monthly fleet status report.

Hercules' backlog wasn't substantially changed from its December report, which noted several new drilling contracts.

Hercules owns the Gulf of Mexico's largest fleet of shallow-water rigs and operates offshore equipment in West Africa, India, Malaysia and the Middle East.

The company struggled through the drilling slow-down in the U.S. Gulf that followed BP PLC's (BP, BP.LN) Deepwater Horizon disaster. But Hercules Chief Financial Officer Stephen Butz said last month that the pace of new well permits and the day rates the company can charge customers are picking up.

Hercules shares have climbed 25.2% since the Dec. 16 fleet report, closing at $3.58 on Wednesday. But some analysts fear that that trend will be short lived. Analysts with Wells Fargo Securities told clients last week that they believe the Hercules could run afoul of its lenders within the next five quarters by exceeding its debt covenants and be forced to raise "substantial" equity.

Hercules said Wednesday that the management contract it is negotiating would require a $10 million investment but said the company wouldn't incur additional debt or financial obligations.

Early last month Hercules said that Bahrain-based First Energy Bank BSC's MENAdrill unit canceled an agreement that called for Hercules to operate one of its newly built rigs. Hercules said it planned to still market and manage the second of MENAdrill's two rigs.

Vann declined to say if Wednesday's disclosure was related to MENAdrill.

-By Ryan Dezember, Dow Jones Newswires; 713-547-9208; ryan.dezember@dowjones.com