Sembcorp Marine inks US$450mn jack-up rig deal with Seadrill

Jurong Shipyard has delivered to Seadrill 3 units of turnkey Ex-D Friede & Goldman deepwater semi-submersible rigs while 6 others are in various stages of construction.

Sembcorp Marine’s subsidiary Jurong Shipyard has secured an order worth a total of US$450 million to build a harsh-environment jack-up rig from Seadrill.

Scheduled for delivery in third quarter 2013, this new turnkey jack-up rig will have similar design and specification as the West Elara, a Gusto MSC CJ70 150A harsh-environment jack-up rig that Jurong Shipyard is currently building for Seadrill.

On completion, this advanced harsh-environment, high-specification drilling unit will be one of the largest jack-ups in the world, specifically built to meet the stringent Norwegian standards for rigs operating in the North Sea region. The rig will have the ability to operate in water depths of up to 150 metres with a high variable deck load and a higher operating efficiency compared to previous jack-up generations. With its ultra-large size, this rig unit will be able to tap into additional opportunities within areas like well testing and early production, according to a Sembcorp Marine report.

Mr Don Lee, Jurong Shipyard’s Senior General Manager of Offshore Division said “We are pleased that Seadrill has again chosen to partner Jurong Shipyard in their fleet expansion to be one of the largest operators of high-quality premium harsh-environment drilling rigs. This Gusto MSC CJ70 jack-up rig will be the second such unit that Jurong Shipyard is building for Seadrill and for operations in the Norwegian Continental Shelf, a quality stringent area requiring high standards of compliance.”

“Jurong Shipyard has to-date successfully delivered to Seadrill three units of turnkey Ex-D Friede & Goldman deepwater semi-submersible rigs – the West Sirius, West Taurus and West Orion. Six other Seadrill rigs are in various stages of construction, including the fourth Ex-D Friede & Goldman deepwater semi-submersible (West Capricorn), two Moss Maritime CS50 ultra-deepwater semi-submersibles (West Pegasus & West Leo), one harsh-environment Gusto MSC CJ70 jack-up rig (West Elara) and two premium Friede & Goldman JU2000E jack-ups (West Castor & West Tucana).”

“We are heartened by Seadrill’s trust and confidence in our rig building capabilities and will continue to build on this strong partnership and win-win synergy going forward.”

Mr Alf C Thorkildsen, Chief Executive Officer in Seadrill Management AS, said “We are excited to have entered into this arrangement again with our proven partner, Jurong Shipyard. We look forward in confidence to the timely delivery of this new generation of advanced rigs which will be one of the most capable and competitive in the world. This newbuild will be an important addition to our fleet of harsh-environment drilling units which will increase earnings and employment visibility of our operations.”