Transocean Inks New Contracts, Extensions; Sees More Downtime

Drilling contractor Transocean Ltd. reported late Wednesday several new contracts and contract extensions valued at approximately $662 million.

The company also increased its expected downtime estimate for this year by 117 days, Transocean reported in its fleet summary update. However, 75 percent of this downtime is related to preparations for a new ultra-deepwater award at a leading-edge day rate, according to a May 16 analysts note for Barclays Research.

This downtime includes 89 days due to shipyard acceleration into 2013 from 2014 and contract preparation for the Deepwater Millennium (UDW drillship), which has been awarded a two-year contract through February 2016 by an unnamed operator for work offshore Australia. The rig currently is drilling the Kiboko-1 well for Anadarko Petroleum Corp. offshore Kenya, according to Rigzone's RigLogix database.

Deepwater Millennium will work at a day rate of $605,000, higher than its previous day rate of $545,000. The new award represents a $442 million estimated contract backlog, Transocean said in its rig fleet summary.

Transocean also received a three-month contract through October for Jack Bates (DW semisub) from an undisclosed operator for work offshore Australia. The rig currently is drilling the Bassett West 1 well, according to RigLogix.

ConocoPhillips awarded a two month extension through February 2014 to the Transocean Legend (mid-water semisub). The rig will work at a day rate of $440,000, higher than Barclays' previous estimate of $325,000 and higher than its current rate of $293,000, Barclays analysts noted.

Transocean John Shaw (mid-water semisub) has also been awarded a one-year contract extension for work in the UK North Sea at $415,000, up from the rig's previous day rate of $360,000. The rig has been working for TAQA Bratani in the region.

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Karen Boman has more than 10 years of experience covering the upstream oil and gas sector. Email Karen at kboman@rigzone.com.

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RigLogix can provide the information that you need about the offshore rig fleet, whether you need utilization and industry trends or detailed reports on future rig contracts. Subscribing to RigLogix will allow you to access dozens of prebuilt reports and build your own custom reports using hundreds of available data columns. For more information about a RigLogix subscription, visit http://www.riglogix.com/.

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Transocean Inks New Contracts, Extensions; Sees More Downtime

Drilling contractor Transocean Ltd. reported late Wednesday several new contracts and contract extensions valued at approximately $662 million.

The company also increased its expected downtime estimate for this year by 117 days, Transocean reported in its fleet summary update. However, 75 percent of this downtime is related to preparations for a new ultra-deepwater award at a leading-edge day rate, according to a May 16 analysts note for Barclays Research.

This downtime includes 89 days due to shipyard acceleration into 2013 from 2014 and contract preparation for the Deepwater Millennium (UDW drillship), which has been awarded a two-year contract through February 2016 by an unnamed operator for work offshore Australia. The rig currently is drilling the Kiboko-1 well for Anadarko Petroleum Corp. offshore Kenya, according to Rigzone's RigLogix database.

Deepwater Millennium will work at a day rate of $605,000, higher than its previous day rate of $545,000. The new award represents a $442 million estimated contract backlog, Transocean said in its rig fleet summary.

Transocean also received a three-month contract through October for Jack Bates (DW semisub) from an undisclosed operator for work offshore Australia. The rig currently is drilling the Bassett West 1 well, according to RigLogix.

ConocoPhillips awarded a two month extension through February 2014 to the Transocean Legend (mid-water semisub). The rig will work at a day rate of $440,000, higher than Barclays' previous estimate of $325,000 and higher than its current rate of $293,000, Barclays analysts noted.

Transocean John Shaw (mid-water semisub) has also been awarded a one-year contract extension for work in the UK North Sea at $415,000, up from the rig's previous day rate of $360,000. The rig has been working for TAQA Bratani in the region.

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Karen Boman has more than 10 years of experience covering the upstream oil and gas sector. Email Karen at kboman@rigzone.com.

Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.
For More Information on the Offshore Rig Fleet:
RigLogix can provide the information that you need about the offshore rig fleet, whether you need utilization and industry trends or detailed reports on future rig contracts. Subscribing to RigLogix will allow you to access dozens of prebuilt reports and build your own custom reports using hundreds of available data columns. For more information about a RigLogix subscription, visit http://www.riglogix.com/.

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Iran Courts Indian Companies with More Alluring Oil Contracts

Iran has offered new, more alluring terms to reluctant Indian companies to win the investment it craves for its decaying energy sector suffering from tight Western sanctions.

Iran started offering production sharing contracts (PSCs), long denied to investors, to a group of Indian oil executives visiting Tehran in January, an Indian industry source said on Thursday.

Tehran's insistence, until now, on paying contractors back in oil made projects unattractive to foreign firms even before sanctions made it nearly impossible for most to work there.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi repeated the production sharing offer during an India-Iran Joint Commission meeting with Indian external affairs minister Salman Khurshid in Tehran last weekend, Indian media reported.

Indian firms say the risks of investing large sums in Iran are still too great, even with a more attractive PSC regime.

We expressed our reservations because of international sanctions and non-availability of services and material required for execution projects,'' said a source who was involved in talks with Iran on potential upstream activities in January.

Three Indian companies with stakes in a gas field in Iran - Indian Oil Corp., ONGC Videsh and Oil India - told a U.S. government watchdog late last year that they had no plans to pursue further work on the project.

According to Iranian media reports, the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) has been drafting production-sharing contracts in the hope of attracting Asian companies, which are not banned by their governments from operating in Iran, to invest in its rundown industry.

Indian press reports said that the two foreign ministers discussed PSCs on Saturday at their meeting in Tehran.

A statement published by the Indian foreign ministry after the meeting said the two sides agreed to study joint investment prospects in both countries but made no mention of energy agreements.

The two ministers did discuss India working to upgrade Iran's Chahbahar Port near the border with Pakistan to help boost trade with land-locked Afghanistan to the north, according to the Indian statement.

We are determined to explore and use all capacities for economic cooperation,'' Khurshid was quoted as saying in a statement published by the Iranian foreign ministry.

Under Iran's established buy-back system, contractors are supposed to be paid in oil and gas from projects they develop with their own capital but then have to hand back the project to Iranian companies when completed and wait for pay back.

This system has kept oil majors like Italy's Eni waiting for multi-million-dollar payments for projects they completed decades ago, while sanctions make it still more difficult to get the oil from Iran.

Under the new contracts, NIOC plans to transfer development of small oil and gas fields to contractors so that the state-run Iranian oil company plays only a supervisory role, NIOC director Ahmad Qalebani was reported as saying by Fars News in March.

PSC's would only be offered for shared fields, he was quoted as saying during a meeting in Tehran on the development of Iran's contracting system in March.

Iran has been courting Asian and Russian energy companies to develop its vast oil and gas reserves over the last few years, and there are still a number of Chinese and Russian companies working in upstream projects, according to the U.S. government.

Western sanctions have also dampened their appetite for long-term investments in the isolated Islamic Republic, on current contract terms, with Chinese companies slamming the brakes on projects they agreed to develop years ago.

Under pressure from Washington, India and China - two of Iran's biggest oil buyers - have also sharply reduced their imports of Iranian crude over the last year.

Copyright 2013 Thai News Service All Rights Reserved

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Iran Courts Indian Companies with More Alluring Oil Contracts

Iran has offered new, more alluring terms to reluctant Indian companies to win the investment it craves for its decaying energy sector suffering from tight Western sanctions.

Iran started offering production sharing contracts (PSCs), long denied to investors, to a group of Indian oil executives visiting Tehran in January, an Indian industry source said on Thursday.

Tehran's insistence, until now, on paying contractors back in oil made projects unattractive to foreign firms even before sanctions made it nearly impossible for most to work there.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi repeated the production sharing offer during an India-Iran Joint Commission meeting with Indian external affairs minister Salman Khurshid in Tehran last weekend, Indian media reported.

Indian firms say the risks of investing large sums in Iran are still too great, even with a more attractive PSC regime.

We expressed our reservations because of international sanctions and non-availability of services and material required for execution projects,'' said a source who was involved in talks with Iran on potential upstream activities in January.

Three Indian companies with stakes in a gas field in Iran - Indian Oil Corp., ONGC Videsh and Oil India - told a U.S. government watchdog late last year that they had no plans to pursue further work on the project.

According to Iranian media reports, the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) has been drafting production-sharing contracts in the hope of attracting Asian companies, which are not banned by their governments from operating in Iran, to invest in its rundown industry.

Indian press reports said that the two foreign ministers discussed PSCs on Saturday at their meeting in Tehran.

A statement published by the Indian foreign ministry after the meeting said the two sides agreed to study joint investment prospects in both countries but made no mention of energy agreements.

The two ministers did discuss India working to upgrade Iran's Chahbahar Port near the border with Pakistan to help boost trade with land-locked Afghanistan to the north, according to the Indian statement.

We are determined to explore and use all capacities for economic cooperation,'' Khurshid was quoted as saying in a statement published by the Iranian foreign ministry.

Under Iran's established buy-back system, contractors are supposed to be paid in oil and gas from projects they develop with their own capital but then have to hand back the project to Iranian companies when completed and wait for pay back.

This system has kept oil majors like Italy's Eni waiting for multi-million-dollar payments for projects they completed decades ago, while sanctions make it still more difficult to get the oil from Iran.

Under the new contracts, NIOC plans to transfer development of small oil and gas fields to contractors so that the state-run Iranian oil company plays only a supervisory role, NIOC director Ahmad Qalebani was reported as saying by Fars News in March.

PSC's would only be offered for shared fields, he was quoted as saying during a meeting in Tehran on the development of Iran's contracting system in March.

Iran has been courting Asian and Russian energy companies to develop its vast oil and gas reserves over the last few years, and there are still a number of Chinese and Russian companies working in upstream projects, according to the U.S. government.

Western sanctions have also dampened their appetite for long-term investments in the isolated Islamic Republic, on current contract terms, with Chinese companies slamming the brakes on projects they agreed to develop years ago.

Under pressure from Washington, India and China - two of Iran's biggest oil buyers - have also sharply reduced their imports of Iranian crude over the last year.

Copyright 2013 Thai News Service All Rights Reserved

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Venezuela Oil Minister: Contracts Could Be Canceled if Output Demands Not M

CARACAS--Venezuela's government could revoke contracts of 10 small partner companies in the nationalized oil industry if they fail to meet the state's demands to increase production, Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez told reporters Friday.

The government, which has laid out ambitious plans to raise production capacity over the next several years, wrote to all of its partners in November 2010 calling on them to boost output.

"At this moment we have identified 10 companies with problems, four of which are very critical," Mr. Ramirez said. "I'm going to make the call again. If they don't complete the plans then I will have to go to the National Assembly and say that these companies are not fulfilling what they promised," he said, warning that those not meeting their targets could have their contracts canceled.

The minister declined to name the companies but said that "they are very small" and include some that produce no more than 30 barrels a day.

"Time is up. I hope that the companies come and talk to us," Mr. Ramirez said.

He added that large partners like U.S. oil major Chevron Corp. (CVX) and China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC.YY) have already responded to the government's demands and now he is waiting for the smaller companies to follow suit.

Under late President Hugo Chavez, who died in March, Venezuela's government revised contract terms with its oil partners to give the state a larger claim on oil projects. Some companies like ConocoPhillips (COP) and Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) rejected the new terms and are now seeking billions in compensation from Venezuela through international arbitration courts.

Copyright (c) 2013 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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Saipem 1Q Suffers from Low-Margin Contracts

ROME - Italian oil services company Saipem SpA Tuesday said its first-quarter profit more than halved due to lower margins in its key divisions, but sought to reassure investors by confirming its earnings targets for the year. 

The steep fall in profit, more than what the market had expected, comes as Saipem has lost more than a third of its market value in the last three months after unexpectedly slashing its 2012 earnings guidance in January. 

Saipem reported a first-quarter net profit of 110 million euros ($143 million) from EUR231 million over the same period in 2012. 

Much of the slippage was due to the poor performance of its engineering and construction divisions which suffered from low-margin contracts signed in a highly competitive market. 

Revenue fell 1.4% to EUR3.09 billion and operating profit slipped 46% to EUR202 million. 

A survey of seven analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had expected a net profit of EUR124.7 million on revenue of EUR3.30 billion and an operating profit of EUR221.1 million. 

Milan-based Saipem, which is controlled by oil company Eni SpA, has been in the spotlight in recent months after it announced in December that it was being investigated by Italian prosecutors over alleged corruption linked to some Algerian contracts. Saipem denies any wrongdoing. 

Tuesday, the company confirmed an Algerian court has upheld the freezing of about EUR80 million in one of its accounts held in the country. It also said it has been informed of a possible extension of the ongoing investigation by Algerian prosecutors, although it has no details of the probe's status or the people involved. 

Saipem said that a partial reason of the net debt increase in its accounts of EUR567 million to EUR4.85 billion at the end of March from three months earlier is due to the Algerian investigation which is causing significant delays in the approval of progress reports in the country. 

At the start of 2013, Saipem spooked investors by reducing its 2012 earnings guidance because of a gloomy outlook for this year. This came after months of assurances that the company was optimistic about meeting its targets. 

Saipem is to hold a conference call at 1330 GMT to comment on its results. It will present its operational review Wednesday. 

Copyright (c) 2013 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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Saipem 1Q Suffers from Low-Margin Contracts

ROME - Italian oil services company Saipem SpA Tuesday said its first-quarter profit more than halved due to lower margins in its key divisions, but sought to reassure investors by confirming its earnings targets for the year. 

The steep fall in profit, more than what the market had expected, comes as Saipem has lost more than a third of its market value in the last three months after unexpectedly slashing its 2012 earnings guidance in January. 

Saipem reported a first-quarter net profit of 110 million euros ($143 million) from EUR231 million over the same period in 2012. 

Much of the slippage was due to the poor performance of its engineering and construction divisions which suffered from low-margin contracts signed in a highly competitive market. 

Revenue fell 1.4% to EUR3.09 billion and operating profit slipped 46% to EUR202 million. 

A survey of seven analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had expected a net profit of EUR124.7 million on revenue of EUR3.30 billion and an operating profit of EUR221.1 million. 

Milan-based Saipem, which is controlled by oil company Eni SpA, has been in the spotlight in recent months after it announced in December that it was being investigated by Italian prosecutors over alleged corruption linked to some Algerian contracts. Saipem denies any wrongdoing. 

Tuesday, the company confirmed an Algerian court has upheld the freezing of about EUR80 million in one of its accounts held in the country. It also said it has been informed of a possible extension of the ongoing investigation by Algerian prosecutors, although it has no details of the probe's status or the people involved. 

Saipem said that a partial reason of the net debt increase in its accounts of EUR567 million to EUR4.85 billion at the end of March from three months earlier is due to the Algerian investigation which is causing significant delays in the approval of progress reports in the country. 

At the start of 2013, Saipem spooked investors by reducing its 2012 earnings guidance because of a gloomy outlook for this year. This came after months of assurances that the company was optimistic about meeting its targets. 

Saipem is to hold a conference call at 1330 GMT to comment on its results. It will present its operational review Wednesday. 

Copyright (c) 2013 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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Egypt Awards Oil, Gas Contracts to Accelerate Exploration Pace

State-run Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Co. has awarded eight oil and gas prospection projects in the Mediterranean Sea for an overall minimum investment of $1.2 billion as the country seeks to increase its fossil fuel production and reserves.

BP PLC, Ireland's Petroceltic International PLC, Italy's Eni SpA, Edison and IEOC, a subsidiary of Eni group, Canada's Sea Dragon Energy, United Arab Emirates' Dana Gas PJSC and Australia's Pura Vida Energy NL won the blocks, the oil ministry said in a statement posted on its website late Tuesday.

The awards were the result of an international tender which received 13 offers. The winning companies will drill a minimum of 18 wells and will pay $73.2 million for the licenses, it said.

"Issuing international tenders is part of the ministry of oil's strategies to intensify oil and gas exploration activities to secure new energy supplies...and encourage international firms to pump more investments in research, exploration and development," energy minister Osama Kamal said in the statement.

Mr. Kamal has previously said that investments in oil and gas exploration are expected to reach $8.6 billion this year.

Egypt has seen its oil and gas exploration activities slowing over the past couple of years due the continuing unrest since the ousting of former president Hosni Mubarak. The country has been paying hefty premiums for its crude supplies due to the weaker Egyptian pound and difficulties in securing letters of credit for its transactions, while a shortage of state-subsided diesel has already paralyzed transportation in many parts of the country.

Last year, Mr. Kamal allowed private firms to imports gas to meet the country's soaring energy demand.

The civil unrest has also led to a risky economic mix of dwindling foreign-exchange reserves, declining tourism revenue and costly price subsidies, economists said. To prop up the Egyptian currency, the central bank has gone through nearly two-thirds of its foreign-currency reserves, pushing the country to the brink of a liquidity crisis.

Egypt is in the throes of trying to secure a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, a move viewed as critical to rescuing its economy and mending its reputation as a place to do business.

People close to the talks say the IMF wants to see Egypt reduce its subsidy spending as part of a reform plan for the loan. But any subsidy changes will likely only enrage further the legions of poor who rely daily on cheap fuel, making the already uncomfortable summer months all that more unbearable.

Copyright (c) 2013 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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Union Drilling Signs Multi-Year Contracts For Two New Rigs

Posted on Wednesday, July 6th, 2011 at 11:23 pm

FORT WORTH, Texas, July 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Union Drilling, Inc. (NASDAQ: UDRL) has entered into contracts to purchase two new drilling rigs based upon executed three-year contracts with a long-standing customer. The 1,500 horsepower AC electric drilling rigs, designed for pad drilling and efficient rig moves, have an aggregate cost of approximately $35 million. Upon completion, which is expected in the first quarter of 2012, the rigs will be deployed to Arkansas for work in the Fayetteville Shale.

Christopher D. Strong, Union Drilling’s President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “This type of investment is exactly what we had in mind when we entered into an expanded revolving credit facility earlier this year. These two new rigs represent an excellent opportunity to generate attractive returns for our shareholders while expanding our relationship with a key customer.”

Since January 2011, the Company has added two 1,000 horsepower rigs to its fleet and two more 1,000 horsepower rigs are expected to be completed for operations in the Marcellus Shale by the end of 2011.

About Union Drilling

Union Drilling, Inc., headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, provides contract land drilling services and equipment to oil and natural gas producers in the United States. Union Drilling currently owns and markets 71 rigs and specializes in unconventional drilling techniques.

Statements we make in this press release that express a belief, expectation or intention, as well as those which are not historical fact, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. These forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “potential,” “should” or similar words. These matters include statements concerning management’s plans and objectives relating to our operations or economic performance and related assumptions, including general economic and business conditions and industry trends, the continued strength or weakness of the contract land drilling industry in the geographic areas in which we operate, decisions about onshore exploration and development projects to be made by oil and gas companies, the highly competitive nature of our business, our future financial performance, including availability, terms and deployment of capital, the continued availability of qualified personnel, and changes in, or our failure or inability to comply with, government regulations, including those relating to workplace safety and the environment. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Further, we specifically disclaim any duty to update any of the information set forth in this press release, including any forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are made based on management’s current expectations and beliefs concerning future events and, therefore, involve a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, including the risk factors described in our public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K. Management cautions that forward-looking statements are not guarantees, and our actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements.

UDRL-G

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Saipem Wins $1.1B in North, West Africa E&C Contracts

Saipem has been awarded new E&C Offshore contracts in North and West Africa for a total value of approximately $1.1 billion.

In Egypt, Saipem has been awarded by Burullus Gas Company a contract for the development of the West Delta Deep Marine Phase IXa Project about 56 miles (90 kilometers) off the Mediterranean Coast of Egypt.

The scope of work encompasses engineering, procurement, installation, pre-commissioning and commissioning support of subsea facilities in the West Delta Deep Marine Concession, where Saipem already successfully performed earlier subsea development phases.

New facilities include rigid and flexible flowlines, umbilicals and other related subsea structures, to be installed in water depths up to 2,788 feet (850 meters).

Marine activities will be carried out between the second and the fourth quarter of 2014.

Furthermore, in Angola, Saipem has been awarded an EPCI [engineeringf, procurement, construction and installation] contract for subsea facilities. The scope of work includes engineering, procurement, fabrication and installation of production and water injection pipelines and flowlines, rigid jumpers and other related subsea structures.

Offshore activities will be performed between the second quarter of 2014 and the second quarter of 2015, in a water depth ranging from 2,296 feet to 4,757 feet (700 to 1,450 meters).

The fabrication activities will be fully carried out in Angola at Saipem yards in Soyo and Ambriz.

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Saipem Wins $1.1B in North, West Africa E&C Contracts

Saipem has been awarded new E&C Offshore contracts in North and West Africa for a total value of approximately $1.1 billion.

In Egypt, Saipem has been awarded by Burullus Gas Company a contract for the development of the West Delta Deep Marine Phase IXa Project about 56 miles (90 kilometers) off the Mediterranean Coast of Egypt.

The scope of work encompasses engineering, procurement, installation, pre-commissioning and commissioning support of subsea facilities in the West Delta Deep Marine Concession, where Saipem already successfully performed earlier subsea development phases.

New facilities include rigid and flexible flowlines, umbilicals and other related subsea structures, to be installed in water depths up to 2,788 feet (850 meters).

Marine activities will be carried out between the second and the fourth quarter of 2014.

Furthermore, in Angola, Saipem has been awarded an EPCI [engineeringf, procurement, construction and installation] contract for subsea facilities. The scope of work includes engineering, procurement, fabrication and installation of production and water injection pipelines and flowlines, rigid jumpers and other related subsea structures.

Offshore activities will be performed between the second quarter of 2014 and the second quarter of 2015, in a water depth ranging from 2,296 feet to 4,757 feet (700 to 1,450 meters).

The fabrication activities will be fully carried out in Angola at Saipem yards in Soyo and Ambriz.

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Transocean Confirms $2B of New Contracts

Transocean, the world's largest offshore drilling contractor, confirmed late Friday that it secured new contracts amounting to $2 billion between Oct. 17 2012 through to Feb. 14 2013. Reporting its fourth quarter results for 2012, the firm also said that the backlog of orders from continuing operations stood at $28.8 billion on February 14.

Transocean generated 4Q 2012 revenues of $2.32 billion – down from $2.43 billion in the previous quarter. Contract drilling revenues decreased by $35 million primarily due to the expected increase in "out of service" time, which was partly offset by higher average day rates. Other revenues decreased by $70 million, which was mainly due to lower drilling management services activity.

Operating and maintenance expenses in 4Q 2012 were $1.44 billion (3Q 2012: $1.32 billion), while 4Q 2012 net income came in at $456 million (3Q 2013: $381 million loss).

During 4Q 2012 the firm reclassified its drilling management services operations in the US Gulf of Mexico to the status of "discontinued operations", reducing its revenues for the period by $51 million and operating and maintenance expenses by $50 million.

For 2013, Transocean issued guidance that its fleet average revenue efficiency would be approximately 93 percent (compared with 94.7 percent during 4Q 2012). Operating and maintenance expenses for 2013 are estimated at between $5.7 billion and $5.9 billion.

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Keppel O&M's Order Book Swells $300M with Three New Contracts

Keppel FELS, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M), has won three contracts worth a combined $300 million from repeat customers, the company disclosed in statement late Wednesday.

The contracts are for the construction of a KFELS B Class jackup from Star Drilling, the upgrading of the semisubmersible Ensco 5006 for Ensco and the upgrading of the semisubmersible Ocean Patriot for Diamond Offshore.

For the contract with Star Drilling, the jackup will be built to Keppel's proprietary design and customized to meet the owner's operational needs in water depths of up to 350 feet for deployment in offshore India. The rig will have a drilling depth capability of 30,000 feet. Delivery of the rig is scheduled for 4Q 2014.

For the contract with Ensco, Keppel FELS' major workscope includes upgrading of the living quarters, and other contract-specific upgrades for operating in Australia on the Inpex's Ichthys project. The vessel is expected to arrive at the yard in 1Q 2014 with redelivery in 2Q 2014, after which it will be chartered to Inpex for work in Australia.

For the contract with Diamond Offshore on the Ocean Patriot, Keppel FELS will undertake the fabrication and installation of four 24-foot diameter stability columns and new lower hull inboard pontoon sponsons as well as upgrade the living quarters. Work on Ocean Patriot is expected to start in June this year, with redelivery at the end of the year. When completed, the semisubmersible will be chartered to Shell for work at the Fram field in the UK North Sea.

"We are glad to be able to continue from 2012 into2013 by adding more contracts to our orderbook. Even as we add to our new orders, we continue to deliver our projects safely, on time and on budget. Just over the last two months, we delivered four newbuild rigs by up to a month ahead of schedule," Keppel O&M's Managing Director, Wong Kok Seng, said in a statement.

Analysts predicted in January that Keppel O&M will this year realize around $4.4 billion in contract wins, the bulk of its revenue coming from delivering jackups, its traditional area of strength.

Earlier this week, Keppel O&M revealed that it was handed two contracts from repeat customers MODEC and Toyo Offshore Production Systems and SBM Offshore. The two contracts in total are worth $161 million.

Quintella has reported on the upstream and downstream oil and petrochemicals markets from 2004. Email Quintella at quintella.koh@rigzone.com.

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Keppel O&M Secures Contracts from MTOPS, SMB Offshore

Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M), through its subsidiaries – Keppel FELS Brasil and Keppel Shipyard – have secured two contracts worth $161 million (SGD 200 million) from repeat customers, the company disclosed late Tuesday.

Keppel FELS Brasil's contract is with MODEC and Toyo Offshore Production Systems (MTOPS) to integrate the topside modules of a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit. The project will be carried out at BrasFELS, Keppel FELS Brasil's yard in Brazil.
The FPSO, a project by MODEC and its partner Schahin Group, has been chartered for operations offshore Brazil for 20 years.

Integration works for the FPSO will take place from 3Q 2014 to 3Q 2015. The completed unit will have a production capacity of 150,000 barrels of oil per day and storage capacity of 1,600,000 barrels of oil.

Keppel Shipyard has meanwhile been engaged by SBM Offshore to fabricate an internal turret for a newbuild FPSO, which will be installed in the Ichthys Field, offshore Western Australia. Inpex awarded SBM Offshore the contract to engineer, procure, fabricate and supply the turret in February last year. The contract also includes assistance during the integration of the turret into the FPSO as well as during installation on the field. Installation is slated to start in mid-2015.

Keppel Shipyard's work on the 6,800-tonne Ichthys FPSO turret is scheduled to complete by Q3 2014.

"We are pleased to be selected by our customers for repeat projects as these are strong affirmations of the quality of our services. BrasFELS and MTOPS' first FPSO project was delivered safely and 19 days ahead of schedule; the second project is underway and on track for delivery in 2Q 2014. Keppel Shipyard has collaborated with SBM Offshore on some 17 major conversion and fabrication projects," Keppel O&M's CEO, Tong Chong Heong, said in a statement.

Keppel Shipyard's ongoing projects for SBM Offshore are the conversion of FPSO OSX-2 for Brazil as well as modification and upgrading of FPSO N’Goma for Angola. SBM Offshore is also working with Keppel Singmarine on the newbuilding of a multi-purpose dive support construction vessel.

Quintella has reported on the upstream and downstream oil and petrochemicals markets from 2004. Email Quintella at quintella.koh@rigzone.com.

Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.

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Keppel O&M Secures Contracts from MTOPS, SMB Offshore

Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M), through its subsidiaries – Keppel FELS Brasil and Keppel Shipyard – have secured two contracts worth $161 million (SGD 200 million) from repeat customers, the company disclosed late Tuesday.

Keppel FELS Brasil's contract is with MODEC and Toyo Offshore Production Systems (MTOPS) to integrate the topside modules of a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit. The project will be carried out at BrasFELS, Keppel FELS Brasil's yard in Brazil.
The FPSO, a project by MODEC and its partner Schahin Group, has been chartered for operations offshore Brazil for 20 years.

Integration works for the FPSO will take place from 3Q 2014 to 3Q 2015. The completed unit will have a production capacity of 150,000 barrels of oil per day and storage capacity of 1,600,000 barrels of oil.

Keppel Shipyard has meanwhile been engaged by SBM Offshore to fabricate an internal turret for a newbuild FPSO, which will be installed in the Ichthys Field, offshore Western Australia. Inpex awarded SBM Offshore the contract to engineer, procure, fabricate and supply the turret in February last year. The contract also includes assistance during the integration of the turret into the FPSO as well as during installation on the field. Installation is slated to start in mid-2015.

Keppel Shipyard's work on the 6,800-tonne Ichthys FPSO turret is scheduled to complete by Q3 2014.

"We are pleased to be selected by our customers for repeat projects as these are strong affirmations of the quality of our services. BrasFELS and MTOPS' first FPSO project was delivered safely and 19 days ahead of schedule; the second project is underway and on track for delivery in 2Q 2014. Keppel Shipyard has collaborated with SBM Offshore on some 17 major conversion and fabrication projects," Keppel O&M's CEO, Tong Chong Heong, said in a statement.

Keppel Shipyard's ongoing projects for SBM Offshore are the conversion of FPSO OSX-2 for Brazil as well as modification and upgrading of FPSO N’Goma for Angola. SBM Offshore is also working with Keppel Singmarine on the newbuilding of a multi-purpose dive support construction vessel.

Quintella has reported on the upstream and downstream oil and petrochemicals markets from 2004. Email Quintella at quintella.koh@rigzone.com.

Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.

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Sea Trucks' Nigerian Unit, West African Ventures Win Erha North Contracts

Sea Trucks Group announced Friday the award of the Erha North contract to a consortium of West African Ventures, Sea Trucks’ principle Nigerian business and Subsea 7's Nigerian subsidiary.

The contract was awarded by Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Ltd for the development of the Erha North field, located offshore Nigeria in water depths between 3,281 feet to 3,937 feet (1,000 meters to 1,200 meters).

West African Ventures' scope of work will be the installation of certain manifolds, provision of a DP3 accommodation vessel as well as the supply of several ancillary marine support vessels.Offshore activities are scheduled to start in 3Q, 2014.

Sea Trucks' President and CEO, Jacques J. Roomans, said: "We are very pleased with the award of this significant project which reflects the well established reputation of our indigenous business, West African Ventures as a reliable partner for subsea construction and accommodation projects in Nigeria."

Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.

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Union Drilling Signs Multi-Year Contracts For Two New Rigs

Posted on Wednesday, July 6th, 2011 at 11:23 pm

FORT WORTH, Texas, July 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Union Drilling, Inc. (NASDAQ: UDRL) has entered into contracts to purchase two new drilling rigs based upon executed three-year contracts with a long-standing customer. The 1,500 horsepower AC electric drilling rigs, designed for pad drilling and efficient rig moves, have an aggregate cost of approximately $35 million. Upon completion, which is expected in the first quarter of 2012, the rigs will be deployed to Arkansas for work in the Fayetteville Shale.

Christopher D. Strong, Union Drilling’s President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “This type of investment is exactly what we had in mind when we entered into an expanded revolving credit facility earlier this year. These two new rigs represent an excellent opportunity to generate attractive returns for our shareholders while expanding our relationship with a key customer.”

Since January 2011, the Company has added two 1,000 horsepower rigs to its fleet and two more 1,000 horsepower rigs are expected to be completed for operations in the Marcellus Shale by the end of 2011.

About Union Drilling

Union Drilling, Inc., headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, provides contract land drilling services and equipment to oil and natural gas producers in the United States. Union Drilling currently owns and markets 71 rigs and specializes in unconventional drilling techniques.

Statements we make in this press release that express a belief, expectation or intention, as well as those which are not historical fact, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. These forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “potential,” “should” or similar words. These matters include statements concerning management’s plans and objectives relating to our operations or economic performance and related assumptions, including general economic and business conditions and industry trends, the continued strength or weakness of the contract land drilling industry in the geographic areas in which we operate, decisions about onshore exploration and development projects to be made by oil and gas companies, the highly competitive nature of our business, our future financial performance, including availability, terms and deployment of capital, the continued availability of qualified personnel, and changes in, or our failure or inability to comply with, government regulations, including those relating to workplace safety and the environment. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Further, we specifically disclaim any duty to update any of the information set forth in this press release, including any forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are made based on management’s current expectations and beliefs concerning future events and, therefore, involve a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, including the risk factors described in our public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K. Management cautions that forward-looking statements are not guarantees, and our actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements.

UDRL-G

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