Says COSCO has resumed higher payments on 3 disputed vessels

* DryShips CFO says co has no further issues with counterparties

* DryShips close to deal with American co to drill wells in W. Africa

* Shares down 6 pct in early trade on Q2 result (Follows alerts)

BANGALORE, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Greece-based DryShips Inc , which is in a lease payment dispute with China COSCO Holdings , said the Chinese shipping conglomerate had resumed higher payments on three of its disputed vessels.

"We have no further issues with our counterparties," Chief Financial Officer Ziad Nakhleh said In a conference call.

DryShips was close to signing a contract with an American oil and gas producer to drill wells in West Africa, it said but did not name the company.

However, shares of the company were trading down after it posted a Wall Street-lagging quarterly profit on Tuesday as some of its drilling units had to be mobilized.

DryShips shares, which have lost 42 percent of their value so far this year, fell 6 percent in early trade on Wednesday on Nasdaq.

"While we expect shares to come under pressure following the report and lower drillship revenue, we expect sequential revenue improvement following the rig mobilization (largely limited to the second quarter)," said senior Wells Fargo Securities analyst Michael Webber.

CFO Nakhleh said contract backlog at DryShips' Ocean Rig drilling unit has risen to about $2 billion and it counts top oil and gas companies such as Cairn , Tullow Oil , Petrobras and Lukoil as customers.

"We've been investing in ultradeepwater drilling business since 2008, and the time has come to enjoy the benefits of this investments," Nakhleh said in the call. (Reporting by Krishna N Das in Bangalore; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)