Keppel clinches fifth jackup contract from Gulf Drilling for $286.3m

It’s set to be delivered in 1Q16.

Keppel Offshore & Marine's wholly-owned subsidiary Keppel FELS yesterday revealed that it has secured a contract from Gulf Drilling International Ltd. of Qatar to build a repeat high-specification KFELS B Class jackup rig worth US$227 million ($286.27m).

The new jackup will be named Halul and is set to be delivered in the first quarter of 2016. Upon delivery, Halul will be chartered to Qatar Petroleum for five years. 

Halul is GDI’s fifth KFELS B Class jackup rig ordered from Keppel. The fourth rig, Dukhan, was recently delivered last month. Les Hat, a similar jackup, was delivered last year and has been successfully operating for GDI in the Middle East, following in the footsteps of sister rigs, AL Khor and AL Zubarah.  

As part of the contract, GDI has options for two more KFELS B Class rigs for deliveries in 2017.

According to OSK DMG, “This contract marks the fifth jackup contract from GDI, showing the reliability of the KFELS B class rigs. The KFELS B class has been established in the Middle East with more than 10 such rigs already operating there successfully.”