Blog Archives
Shell Starts Drilling at Cebus Well, Offshore French Guiana
Shell has started drilling at Cebus prospect (GM-ES-4), the third well of the current four well exploration programme in the Guyane Maritime Permit (French Guiana), Northern Petroleum, which holds a stake in the permit, has announced.
The drilling operations are being conducted with the Stena Ice Max drillship.
Northern through holding 50 per cent of Northpet Investments Limited, owns a net 1.25 per cent interest in the offshore exploration licence ‘Guyane Maritime’. Northern is in partnership with Shell (Operator, holding 45 per cent), Total (25 per cent), Tullow Oil (27.5 per cent) and Wessex Exploration (also holding 1.25 per cent through owning the remaining 50 per cent interest in Northpet Investment Limited).
Keith Bush, Chief Operating Officer of Northern stated:
“This is a new, exciting opportunity for the joint venture to further establish the oil production potential in French Guiana. We look forward to the results of this well with great interest.”
Gulf of Mexico: PXP Hires Noble’s New Drillships for $1.3 Bln
Noble Corporation today announced that the Company has entered into two three-year term drilling contracts with Plains Exploration & Production Company for the Noble Sam Croft and the Noble Tom Madden, two of Noble’s new ultra-deepwater drillships currently under construction at the Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. (HHI) shipyard in Ulsan, South Korea.
The drillships, which are being constructed on a fixed price basis, are expected to be utilized for operations primarily in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico under these contracts.
The Noble Sam Croft is expected to be delivered in the second quarter of 2014, followed closely by the Noble Tom Madden, which is expected to be delivered in second half of 2014. The contracts are expected to commence following mobilization to the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and customer acceptance. Revenues to be generated over the three-year terms are expected to total approximately $693 million per rig, including mobilization fees, representing in excess of $1.3 billion in total potential backlog. With the award of contracts for these two units, all four ultra-deepwater drillships under construction for Noble at HHI are now under contract.
“With the addition of these units to our U.S. Gulf of Mexico fleet, Noble will have one of the most modern and capable fleets in the region, a fact that demonstrates the fundamental change going on across the Company,” noted David W. Williams, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. “At the same time, these contracts provide us with significant additional backlog, while expanding and diversifying our customer base as we grow our relationship with an important new customer.”
The Noble Sam Croft and the Noble Tom Madden are two of the four ultra-deepwater drillships being constructed for Noble by HHI. All four drillships are based on a Hyundai Gusto P10000 hull design, capable of operations in water depths of up to 12,000 feet and offering a variable deck load of 20,000 metric tons. The Noble Sam Croft and Noble Tom Madden will be fully equipped to operate in up to 10,000 feet of water while offering DP-3 station keeping, two complete six-ram BOP systems, multiple parallel activity features that improve overall well construction efficiencies and accommodations for up to 210 personnel. Both rigs also will also be equipped with a 165-ton heave compensated construction cranes to facilitate deployment of subsea production equipment, providing another level of efficiency during field development programs.
LLOG to Deploy Seadrill’s Newbuild Drillship West Neptune
Seadrill has signed a contract with LLOG Bluewater Holdings, LLC, for employment of the newbuild drillship, West Neptune, offshore Gulf of Mexico.
The contract duration is a minimum of three years plus an option for a one-year extension at mutually agreed rates. The potential revenue for the primary contract term is approximately US$662 million. The West Neptune is expected to be delivered to Seadrill from the Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard in Geoje, South Korea, in early June 2014. The rig will be outfitted to work in up to 10,000′ of water and is capable of water depths up to 12,000′ and drilling depths up to 37,000′.
Fredrik Halvorsen, CEO and President of Seadrill Management Ltd. says in a comment, “We are delighted to have signed our first contract with LLOG, a leading independent operator in the Gulf of Mexico. This award complements our expanding deepwater operations in the area with Seadrill’s fleet growing to six ultra-deepwater units within the US and Mexican Gulf of Mexico over the next 18 months. In addition, this contract brings Seadrill’s order backlog to US$20.9 billion. We continue to experience strong demand for premium ultra-deepwater rigs and expect to further increase our backlog and earnings visibility in the next months as our additional ultra-deepwater units under construction secure term contracts.”
Scott Gutterman, President and CEO of LLOG, added: “The West Neptune will be the first dual BOP rig in the Gulf of Mexico for LLOG. LLOG will initially utilize the rig to perform completions of our Delta House wells. Having two BOP’s will allow LLOG to complete our wells efficiently saving up to 12 days per completion. Execution of this contract is another key step in accelerating the drilling and development of our extensive portfolio of exploration prospects in the Gulf of Mexico. Seadrill is an outstanding company and we are looking forward to the business relationship.”
Total Extends Drilling Contract for Pacific Scirocco Drillship
Drilling contractor Pacific Drilling S.A. has announced that Total S.A. has elected to exercise a one-year option to extend the firm contract term for the Pacific Scirocco to January 2015.
The contract provides for a further option, to be exercised at the client’s discretion by April 7, 2014, which could result in two additional years of contract term at a higher dayrate.
Related: Pacific Scirocco Drillship Begins Work in Nigeria
The additional one year term increases the drillship’s backlog by approximately $180 million, bringing the company’s total contract backlog as of April 9, 2013, to approximately $3.4 billion. The additional extension for two years would add a further $364 million backlog if exercised.
The Pacific Scirocco is capable of operating in water depths of up to 12,000 feet and drilling wells 40,000 feet deep.
South Korea: Next-Generation Drillship Design Developed
With the heightened expectations of stakeholders in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon incident, Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) has listened to its drilling operator clients and designed a new generation of drillship. The new 80k class, heavy duty, wide beam drillship design, HD12000, can drill up to depths of 12,000 feet.
It has greater versatility, strength and more available deck space than its predecessors and has been developed drawing on previous experience of drillships. The HD12000 has an increased beam, which allows for larger and more variable load capacity (up to 24,000 metric tonnes) and reserve buoyancy for heavy duty – with compartment arrangement improvements – as well as being able to accommodate a cylinder rig concept that could be used for bigger derrick load requirements.
The JDP put the wide beam drillship design through design review, ship motion analysis, fatigue and FE analysis. Throughout, and on a global basis, Lloyd’s Register experts in hull structures, marine, mechanical, electrical and drilling systems worked in co-operation with HHI’s lead engineers to review and give feedback on the design development.
At the closing meeting at HHI’s Ulsan shipyard, Gyung-Jin Ha, Executive Vice President, Hyundai Heavy Industries, commented: “HHI and Lloyd’s Register have strong advantages in their own specialised fields, and it is therefore desirable to share experiences with each other and have cooperation between the two companies. HHI will never stop innovating to meet new market demands.”
Lloyd’s Register Drilling Integrity Services specialists in Moduspec were able to provide 25 years of valuable ‘people, systems and equipment’ insight and perspective regarding the drilling systems arrangements, when considering the operational integrity of the proposed design. At 223 metres long, 40 metres wide and 18.5 metres deep, the HD12000 drillship can probe a depth of 40,000 feet below the rotary table and is designed to accommodate the increasing complexity, pressures and sizes of drilling equipment and their handling needs. In addition, the arrangement of mud pumps and riser hold storage inside the hull envelope provides for a large free deck area for tube storage and other equipment, as well as greater flexibility and versatility of operations.
It has fully dynamic, positioning-compliant, station-keeping capabilities, with sufficient power to allow it to maintain position in emergency situations. Efficient The HD12000’s innovative hull form design is based on HHI’s longstanding and accumulated technology on merchant vessels. It enables a high transit speed of 11.5 knots (reduced form resistance with integrated thruster pod to hull) with a reported 40% less fuel consumption, enhanced sea-keeping performance (reduced roll angle by 20%), reduced interaction and thruster efficiency improvement and enhanced DP capability (reportedly 20% less fuel consumption).
A patented thruster canister design allows for in-site inspection and maintenance of the thruster without the need for docking, with reduced non-productive time.
Alan Williams, Lloyd’s Register’s Korea Marine Operations Manager, said: “Lloyd’s Register has been able to clearly demonstrate to a significant customer for drillship construction how it can support them, drawing upon the pool of expertise from across the organisation for that segment. Korea represents the technological coalface for drillship construction, gaining momentum for innovation, and we will continue to play our part. Lloyd’s Register is positioned to fully support the drilling operators and building yards through integrated marine and drilling system specialist teams, working closely with these clients to develop and offer solutions.”
The latest revision of LR’s rules for Mobile Offshore Units utilises the specialist drilling integrity capabilities of Moduspec and WEST, and will incorporate new classification notations for mobile offshore drilling units. These will be released in February.
Shipbuilding Tribune – South Korea: Next-Generation Drillship Design Developed.
- South Korea: STX O&S Wins Mega Project Award (worldmaritimenews.com)
- Pacific Drilling: A Growing, Well-Capitalized Offshore Drilling Company (seekingalpha.com)
Pacific Drilling Extends Option for 8th Drillship
Pacific Drilling S.A. has reached an agreement with South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries to extend an option to construct an eighth ultra-deepwater drillship until January 18, 2013, on the same commercial terms, including delivery scheduled for the first quarter of 2015.
Pacific Drilling currently operates four recently delivered drillships under customer contract and has three drillships under construction at Samsung, two of which are under customer contract.
Pacific Drilling Extends Option for 8th Drillship| Offshore Energy Today.
Titanium Explorer Drillship Starts Petrobras Contract in U.S. Gulf
The ultra-deepwater drillship, Titanium Explorer, started its drilling contract with Brazil’s Petrobras in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, on Friday, December 7.
The Titanium Explorer, formerly known as the Dragonquest, owned by Vantage Drilling, is contracted for eight years.
Under the contract, Brazilian-state controlled oil company Petrobras has the right to re-locate and utilize the Titanium Explorer on a worldwide basis. Expected revenues over the eight-year contract term, excluding revenues for mobilization of the rig and costs escalations, are approximately $1.6 billion.
The drillship is a self-propelled, dynamically positioned vessel suited for drilling in remote locations because of its mobility and large load carrying capacity. It is currently equipped for drilling in water depths up to 10,000 feet, and is designed to drill in water depths up to 12,000 feet.
Related:
Titanium Explorer Drillship to Start Petrobras Contract in December
USA: Vantage Drilling Acquires Titanium Explorer Drillship
Titanium Explorer Drillship Starts Petrobras Contract in U.S. Gulf| Offshore Energy Today.
New Ultra-Deepwater Drillship Laguna Star Arrives in Brazil
The Laguna Star, QGOG Constellation’s new ultra-deepwater drillship, arrived, Nov. 7, in Brazil. Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard, located in South Korea, built the Laguna Star as well as the Amaralina Star drillship, which is currently in operation by QGOG.
The unit will be operated by its subsidiary, Queiroz Galvão Óleo e Gás (QGOG), in water depths of up to 10,000 feet and well depths of up to 40,000 feet. It is equipped to operate in ultra-deepwater including the Brazilian pre-salt area.
The Laguna Star is the second drillship to be operated by QGOG, after Amaralina Star, which arrived in Brazil in August, 2012. The unit contributes to expanding and diversifying QGOG’s portfolio in ultra-deepwater drilling.
“The arrival of Laguna Star is another key milestone for the QGOG Constellation’s ultra-deepwater operations and, together with Amaralina Star, reinforces our operational track record,” said QGOG Constellation CEO Leduvy Gouvea.
These two drillships are chartered to Petrobras under six-year contracts, with options to renew for six additional years. Drilling services will be provided by QGOG.
Shipbuilding Tribune – New Ultra-Deepwater Drillship Laguna Star Arrives in Brazil.
Related articles
- Atwood Oceanics Orders Third Ultra-Deepwater Drillship (gcaptain.com)
- Maersk Newbuild Drillship Snatched Up (gcaptain.com)
- Shell Hires Four Transocean’s Newbuild Drillships (USA) (worldmaritimenews.com)
Continents of the World
