Keppel order wins could reach $5.5bn in 2011

Standard Drilling, Keppel's customer, will be buying two jack-up rigs being built for Clearwater.

According to CIMB, this could potentially exercise options for four more rigs by mid-May. The four options total US$768 million or US$192 million per rig.

Standard Drilling's aggressive expansion confirms CIMB's view that speculators are back in the market, exercising more in-the-money options as rig prices power ahead.

CIMB sees the aggressive expansion by Standard Drilling as opportunistic given the uptrend in jack-up rig prices. Given the strong outlook for jack-ups, CIMB believes prices could continue to climb at least 10-15% in the next 12 months, especially for 2012 deliveries, making it easy for speculators to sell rigs on attractive returns.

If all options materialise, Keppel's orders YTD could reach $5.5 billion or 73% of CIMB's $7.5 billion target for this year, excluding potential contracts from Petrobras.