Bourbon expands fleet
Bourbon is adding to its fleet to serve the offshore industry, placing orders in 1Q 2007 for 46 next-generation vessels to be delivered over the next four years.
The additions to the fleet, Bourbon says, are innovative high-productivity vessels that will assist oil industry clients in developing continental-shelf and deepwater fields.
Bourbon has offered what the company refers to as three series of offshore service vessels, comprising 46 units at a cost of $7,300 million.
Bourbon says 44 vessels will come from the Sinopacific shipyards in China and two from the West Atlantic Shipyard in Nigeria.
The two series vessels will be based on the GPA design identical to the 36 vessels ordered by Bourbon in April of last year:
- • 28 AHTS GPA 254 supply and anchor-handling tugs with 72.5 metric tons (80 short tons) traction
- • 14 PSV GPA 654 platform supply vessels with 1,600 tons dwt.
All of the new vessels are intended for the replacement market operating in the continental offshore in which more than 400 vessels now in service will be over 30 years old by 2010. The characteristics of the new vessels will also make them excellent additional supply vessels for deepwater offshore operations, Bourbon says.
In addition to the three series and two series vessels, the company also is building one series vessels, including four PSV, Ulstein PX105 MACS supply vessels. The PSVs will be 88.8 m (27 ft) long with 4,400 dwt.
The series includes two major innovations, Bourbon says. One is the positioning of engine exhaust on the water line, which does away with the funnel and allows a 360° panoramic view from the bridge. The second innovation is a multi application cargo solution (MACS) system that increases storage capacity in the hold and enables different types of cargo to be stored.
These vessels satisfy the precise needs of the international deepwater and North Sea offshore industry, while offering extremely profitable technological solutions to customers, the company says.
Orders placed as of Feb. 28, 2007, bring Bourbon’s offshore division fleet to 110 supply vessels on order. Deliveries will be made up to September 2011.
New heavy-lift vessel for GoM
In early 1Q 2007, Crowley Maritime Corp. christened theMarty J, the first of three Heavy Lift 455 series barges under construction at Gunderson Marine in Portland, Oregon.
The three 122 m x 32 m (400 ft x 105 ft) deck barges are to be used for project work in the GoM.
TheMarty J will work as a support vessel for deepwater projects.
TheMarty J will work as a support vessel for deepwater projects.
According to Crowley, the vessel’s deck size and 7.6-m (25-ft) side shells provide both the capacity and deck strength needed to accommodate large offshore structures.
The barges will also be suitable for use in other regions, including Alaska, the company says.
Drillship undergoes upgrade
Aban Offshore Ltd. subsidiary Aban Abraham Pte. Ltd.’sAban Abraham deepwater drillship is undergoing extensive refurbishment and modification at the Sembawang Shipyard in Singapore.
TheAban Abraham was built in Holland in 1976 as a world-class second-generation drillship named the Pelerin. The vessel was operated from 1976 to 2002 in water depths to approximately 1,400 m (4,600 ft) offshore West Africa, Norway, Eastern Canada, and Brazil. It was cold stacked from 2002 until 2006, when it was purchased by Aban.
When refurbishment is completed later this year, the drillship will be capable of drilling in water depths to 2,100 m (6,900 ft). Once commissioned, theAban Abraham is scheduled to be on contract for a third-party operator before beginning a drilling campaign in the Gulf of Guinea for Addax Petroleum.
Lamprell lengthens order book
The UAE’s Lamprell Plc. has landed $84.5 million in new contract awards.
One of the awards is a rehabilitation project for theNabors 660 jackup, which was damaged when Hurricane Katrina swept through the Gulf of Mexico in 2005.
The initial $43-million contract is for the comprehensive rehabilitation of the jackup. An additional work scope, with an anticipated value of $25 million, is under development and has not yet been approved.
Nabors acquired the rig, originally namedOcean Warwick, and transported it via the 22,000-metric-ton (short ton) deck capacity Hamriyah Pride, a semisubmersible barge owned and operated by Lamprell to the Lamprell facilities in the UAE. The rig arrived at Hamriyah on Nov. 11 2006.
The contract includes removing storm damaged materials, fabricating a replacement drill floor, legs, spud cans, and sponsons, refitting the living quarters, and installing five new engines and a complete drilling package. The project is expected to be completed in November 2007.
Lamprell also was awarded a $36-million contract to refurbish four GlobalSantaFe jackups, also damaged in the GoM. The rigs were scheduled to arrive in Lamprell’s Sharjah yard in mid-January 2007.
The refurbishment work was scheduled to be completed in April 2007 and the units deployed to Saudi Arabia on long-term charter for Saudi Aramco.
The third 4Q 2006 award was for topside modules for theSmart 1 FPSO. Aker Floating Production contracted for $5.1 million in fabrication from the Lamprell yard.
This contract marks Aker FP’s first FPSO award to Lamprell.
The project scope covers fabrication of the main process module, two riser balconies, and the knock out drum skid. The award also includes an extension option to build the topsides for Aker FPSmart 2 FPSO. All elements will be fabricated at Lamprell’s offshore construction facility in the Jebel Ali Free Zone in Dubai. Work is scheduled for completion in Nov. 2007.
The Smart FPSOs are a modular design suitable for production of up to 60,000 b/d of oil. The FPSOs are suitable for producing medium-sized fields around the world and are a viable alternative to typical early production systems, Lamprell says.
Keppel delivers Vietnam’s first fully-owned rig
Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd. subsidiary Keppel FELS Ltd. has delivered thePV Drilling I, a KFELS B Class jackup rig, to PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services Joint Stock Co.
The jackup was delivered two months ahead of time and within budget, Keppel says.
Built to Keppel’s proprietary design, the KFELS B Class rig is PV Drilling’s first newbuild jackup. ThePV Drilling I is the thirteenth KFELS B Class jackup rig delivered since the introduction of the design in 2000.
Keppel delivered thePV Drilling I jackup two months ahead of schedule.
ThePV Drilling I is customized to PV Drilling’s specifications for operations in water depths to 91 m (300 ft) and drilling depths to 6,096 m (20,000 ft). The rig has accommodations for 110 and is readily upgradeable for higher drilling capabilities in water depths to 107 m (350 ft). The jackup will begin working for the Hoan Vu Joint Operating Co. offshore Vietnam in October.
Global Resources reactivates rig
Global Resources Engineering project services division has completed a reactivation program onboard the Essar Oil semisubmersible drilling rigEssar Wildcat, formerly the Transocean Wildcat. Essar Oil awarded the $50-million contract in Dec. 2006. The semi had been cold stacked in the Cromarty Firth, Invergordon, since 2002.
“The contract lasted ten weeks and involved more than 260 personnel at peak operation,” says Terry Lelean, senior project manager.
TheESSAR Wildcat rig in the Cromarty Firth has been reactivated.
The first step in the project involved lifting anchors and towing the rig to the quayside at Queens Dock, Lelean says, “which in itself represented a number of challenges, as much of the machinery had not been operational for five years.”
When the rig arrived in Queens Dock, the project team defined a work scope that would recertify the rig for fitness so it could be towed to India, where it will begin a drilling program in 3Q 2007.
Hydro to charter FPSO for Peregrino field
Hydro and Anadarko agreed early this year to charter an FPSO to develop the Peregrino field offshore Brazil.
AP Møller-Mærsk A/S will build the FPSO, which will be operated and maintained by one of the company’s Brazilian subsidiaries.
The partnership expects the FPSO to be ready for installation on the field in early 2010.
This agreement is subject to the owners’ final sanctioning of the project and the authorities’ approval of the Peregrino field development plan.
The Peregrino field is about 85 km (53 mi) offshore Brazil in about 100 m (328 ft) water depth. Recoverable resources are estimated at 300-600 MMbbl of heavy oil.
The field will be developed with an FPSO and two drilling platforms. There will be 30 horizontal production wells and seven water injection wells.
Production startup is planned for 2010.
Hydro operates the field with 50% interest during the project planning phase. Anadarko, which owns the other 50% interest, will be operator during the project execution and operation phases.
Petrolia Drilling gets semi contract
Petrobras has signed a five-year drilling contract with Larsen Oil and Gas Ltd. of Aberdeen Scotland for the newbuild deepwater semisubmersible drilling rigPetroRig 2, rated for 2,400 m (7,874 ft) water depth.
Operations are scheduled to start in Brazil by December 2009. The rig is owned by PetroMENA AS and is being built at Jurong Shipyard in Singapore.
The award of this contract gives Larsen and PetroMENA the opportunity to declare the third option to build a similar deepwater semisubmersible at the Jurong yard with delivery in 1Q 2010.
Another Larsen rig,PetroRig 1, owned by PetroMENA AS and also under construction at Jurong Shipyard, has been contracted by Petrobras America to drill in the Gulf of Mexico. The rig is rated for 3,000 m (9,842 ft) water depth.
In addition to the two semisubmersibles, there are two heavy-duty jackups , owned by PetroJack ASA and managed by Larsen Oil & Gas, under construction at Jurong shipyard. Delivery of the jackups, which will be capable of drilling in 114 m (375 ft) water depth, is scheduled for 2008.
