Rowan Companies has entered into turnkey contracts with Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea for the construction of two ultra-deepwater drillships. The Gusto MSC P10000 design units will each cost about $605 million, excluding capitalized interest, and will be delivered in late 2013 and mid-2014. The rigs will be able to drill in water depths up to 12,000 ft and will have a rated drilling depth of 40,000 ft.

 

Other features will include retractable thrusters, dual activity capability, five mud pumps, and a maximum hook load capacity of 1,250 tons, along with a seven-ram BOP, a variable deck load capacity of 20,000 tons, and accommodations for 210 personnel. Rowan has owned only one floating rig in its history. Semi Rowan Midland was rated to drill in 1,200 ft of water but was converted to a floating production unit when it was sold to ATP O&G.

 

Mexican state oil giant Pemex will finalize contract awards on June 9 for jackup tender 18575088-515-11, a four-jackup requirement. Noble Drilling was low bidder on Parts 1 and 4, while Diamond Offshore won Parts 2 and 3. The Noble Eddie Paul was the low bidder for the 195-day Part 1 contract starting June ...

Seadrill has exercised an option to build a new ultra-deepwater dual derrick drillship at the Samsung yard in South Korea. Total project price is estimated at $600 million and delivery is scheduled for the third quarter 2013. The dynamically positioned drillship will be capable of operations in water depths up to 12,000 feet and will be outfitted with seven ram BOP configurations, targeting operations in the Gulf of Mexico, Brazil and West Africa.

Noble Corporation has exercised an option with Singapore’s Jurong Shipyard to build two additional Friede & Goldman (F&G) JU3000N high-spec, heavy duty jackups. Cost for each rig, including project management, spares and start-up costs, is $235 million, with deliveries scheduled for the third quarter of 2013 and first quarter of 2014. With the orders, Noble now has four jackups under construction and the company has options for another two units available, with exercise due by January 1, 2012. The F&G jackups are rated to drill in up to 400 feet of water and will have a rated drilling depth of 30,000 feet. Each rig will have a cantilever reach of 75 feet, a 2.5 million pound hookload capacity and a 15,000 psi blowout preventer system (BOP), along with accommodations for up to 150.

 

Diamond Offshore has received an extension from South Korean shipyard Hyundai Heavy Industries on an option for the yard to build a third drillship. The original option was due to be exercised by March 31, 2011, but has been pushed out to May 16, 2011. Diamond originally ordered the Ocean BlackHawk from Hyundai in early January and exercised its first option a month later when it ...

Noble Drilling (U.S.), Inc. reported it has placed an order with Hyundai Heavy Industries for the construction of two ultra-deepwater drillships. The rigs will be built in Hyundai’s Ulsan, South Korea, facility, with shipyard deliveries scheduled for the second and fourth quarters of 2013. The delivered cost of each ship is expected to be $605 million, including the turnkey construction contract, company-furnished equipment, project management, and spares, but excludes capitalized interest.

 

The contract also includes a fixed-price option for up to two additional drillships, which must be exercised by early May 2011. The rigs are based on a Hyundai Gusto P10000 hull design and will be able to drill in up to 12,000 fsw. The units will have DP-3 station-keeping abilities as well as the ability to handle two complete BOP systems. The rig orders will increase Noble’s floating rig fleet to 26 units, 14 of which are kept in place via dynamic positioning systems. The initial delivery will be deployed on the recently announced five and one-half year contract Noble signed with Royal Dutch Shell. Operations will begin 90–120 days after delivery of the rig in the second quarter of 2013. The contract will be modeled on the ...

Noble Corporation reports that Marathon Oil Corporation has terminated its four-year, $752 million contract with newbuild semi Noble Jim Day. The operator stated it did not accept the rig by December 31, 2010, a contract stipulation, as the reason for termination. Noble continues to believe the rig is ready to commence operations and should have been accepted by Marathon. The company also said an independent third party had affirmed the readiness of the rig and that the rig’s BOP had received its certificate of compliance. Noble is currently pulling riser and offloading equipment in Green Canyon Block 511 and is in discussions with several operators regarding potential contracts. Noble also says semi Noble Danny Adkins has returned to work in Mississippi Canyon Block 764 under its contract with Shell Offshore Inc. Finally, further to an item from the December 27, 2010, Gulf of Mexico Activity Report, semi Noble Clyde Boudreaux will depart the U.S. gulf in mid-to-late February, headed to Brazil for a one-year contract with Shell. On the jackup front, Noble has mobilized jackups Noble Bill Jennings and Noble Lewis Dugger from Mexico to the U.S. gulf. The company has cold stacked both rigs in South Padre Island Block ...

GE Oil & Gas’ drilling & production business has been awarded two contracts totaling more than $120 million by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd of South Korea. Under the first contract, GE will supply a blowout preventer (BOP) stack and controls system, to be installed on a Petroserv-owned drillship for oil and gas production activities offshore Brazil. In addition, GE has been selected to supply two complete drilling packages to be installed on Odebrecht Oil & Gas owned drillships.