Tracy Dulle - Houston
MODEC to install first Jubilee field FPSO
Tullow Ghana has awarded MODEC a contract to provide and to operate the first FPSO to be installed on the Jubilee field offshore Ghana. The contract is a seven-year lease with 13 one-year options.
The FPSO, part of the Phase 1 development plan, will be installed in approximately 1,100 m (3,609 ft) water depth on the Jubilee field. It will be capable of processing more than 120,000 b/d of oil, and injecting more than 230,000 b/d of water and 160 MMcf/d of gas. First oil is scheduled in 2010. The FPSO is designed to remain on the field for up to 20 years.
Petrobras orders newbuild drilling unit and semisubmersible
Petrobras and a subsidiary of Sevan Drilling have signed a firm drilling contract for a newbuild drilling unit intended to operate offshore Brazil in water depths to 2,400 m (7,874 ft).
The drilling contract will have a fixed term of six years with start-up by end-2011. Revenues which could be generated over the six-year period are $975 million, including a bonus arrangement and mobilization fee, the company says.
Sevan has awarded a letter of intent (LOI) to the Cosco Shipyard Group for a turnkey contract for construction, equipment procurement and installation, and commissioning of a drilling unit. Aker Kvaerner MH has been awarded an LOI for delivery of the drilling package.
The drilling unit is based on the Sevan 650 design.
Scorpion Offshore has signed a six-year contract with Petrobras for a newbuild deepwater semisubmersible which also will conduct operations offshore Brazil. The revenue from this contract will be approximately $1.1 billion, plus operating cost inflation adjustments throughout the contract term, according to Scorpion.
Scorpion has ordered the DSS-38 from Keppel Fels with delivery in December 2011. This new rig will be a dynamically-positioned, four column semisubmersible able to drill to 8,500 m (27,887 ft) in water depths up to 2,400 m (7,874 ft). The total cost of this rig is $700 million, Scorpion says.
GSF Arctic II to begin drilling offshore Ireland; Transocean to then sell rig
Providence has taken delivery of the semisubmersibleGSF Arctic II in anticipation of the company’s upcoming multi-well appraisal drilling program at the Hook Head and Dunmore oil accumulations in the north Celtic Sea, offshore Ireland.
Providence and its partners have contracted the rig for a two firm well, one contingent well program.
Transocean subsidiaries have agreed to sell theGSF Arctic II following completion of its existing contract commitment with Providence, and GSF Arctic IV, to Northern Offshore for $750 million.
The sale of theGSF Arctic II is expected to close in 4Q 2008, while GSF Arctic IV is expected to close late in 3Q 2008, the company says.
Keppel receives three contracts
Keppel Shipyard has secured contracts totaling $110 million to upgrade, modify, and convert three vessels.
Bumi Armada Berhad has awarded Keppel a contract to upgrade and convert a tanker into an FPSO. Keppel’s work includes fabrication, installation, and integration of a 12-point spread mooring system, riser balcony, topside facilities, and accommodation and auxiliary support systems upgrades.
The FPSOArmada Perdana, expected to be complete in the first half of 2009, will be able to store 1 MMbbl of oil, and process 40,000 b/d of oil.
Boskalis Westminster Shipping B.V. has contracted Keppel to upgrade a dredger. Keppel will enhance the dredging capabilities of its trailing suction hopper dredger,Queen of the Netherlands. When completed in 1Q 2009, the vessel’s hopper capacity will be increased from 23,347 to 35,500 cu m (824,491 to 1,253,671 cu ft).
The third contract, from BW Offshore Ltd., is to upgrade and to modify an FPSO for the Tupi field in Brazil. The FPSOBW Peace will be converted to meet Petrobras’ requirements and renamed BW Cidade De Saõ Vicente. It will be the first FPSO to enter the Tupi deepwater field outside Rio de Janeiro, expected to be complete by the end of 2008.
Tui FPSO Umuroa contract extended
Prosafe Production, owner and operator of the FPSOUmuroa, has extended the charter of the FPSO through Dec. 31, 2022, for the Tui area oil project in the Taranaki basin.
The charter’s fixed-term ends on Dec. 31, 2015, followed by seven one-year options to extend the contract through Dec. 31, 2022.
The FPSOUmuroa charter has been extended through Dec. 31, 2022, for the Tui area oil project.
A detailed Tui field re-assessment resulted in an increase in the initial proved and probable reserves from 47 to 50.1 MMbbl of oil.
Tui field operators are AWE New Zealand Pty with 42.5%, Mitsui E&P New Zealand with 35%, New Zealand Oil & Gas Ltd. with 12.5%, and Pan Pacific Petroleum NL with 10%.
MIS receives jackup contracts
Maritime Industrial Services Co. Ltd. Inc. (MIS) has received rig-building contracts worth $335 million from Mosvold Middle East Jackup (MEJU) for the detail design and construction of two jackups.
The two firm rigs, Hull 106 and Hull 108, will be supplied on a turnkey basis and will be built at the MIS shipyard in Sharjah, UAE. The rigs are a Friede and Goldman Super Mod 2 design with 30,000-ft (9,144-m) rated drilling depth, capable of operating in 300 ft (91 m) of water. There are accommodations for 110 people on each rig.
MIS now has a confirmed order backlog of $480 million.
Diamond signs LOIs for four rigs
Diamond Offshore Drilling has received letters of intent (LOIs) for four semisubmersible rigs that could earn the company nearly $900 million and provide six and a half rig years of work.
The LOIs include:
- Ocean Ambassador - three years, plus an unpriced option, beginning in June 2009. Maximum total revenue is $285 million
- Ocean Star - 18 months beginning in November 2008. Maximum total revenue is $285 million
- Ocean America - one year beginning in July 2009. Maximum total revenue is $190 million
- Ocean Victory - one year minimum term beginning in May 2009. Maximum total revenue is $197 million.
