Twenty-six deepwater drilling units set for delivery by year-end 2000

Last year, one of the first of the new fleet, the Glomar Explorer, drilled its first well in the greatest water depths ever drilled. This year, the Noble Paul Wolff followed suit and broke that record. The Deepwater Pathfinder drilled a major discovery its first well out of the shipyard.

Under construction

Barring contract terminations or delays, 26 deepwater drilling rigs will hit the water by the end of 2000, leaving 29 still under construction. Eight rigs are set for delivery by the end of this year, with the remaining 18 set for delivery by year-end 2000. Delays average about three to four months, and could push some rigs into 2001.

The remaining three rigs not set for delivery by 2000 include two of Ocean Rig's Bingo-9000 semisubmersible hulls which are being left at the baredeck stage, and the Schahin Millen nium SA semisubmersible that is awaiting final financing approval.

Only five of the rigs do not have contracts - the four Bingo-9000 rigs and the R&B Falcon/ Navis Navis Explorer I drillship. The other 24 rigs have contracts of three years or greater.

Nineteen of the deepwater rigs still under construction are semisubmersibles while the remaining ten are drillships. The majority of these rigs will begin their service in the Gulf of Mexico (10 rigs), with Brazil and West Africa taking five rigs each and the North Sea garnering two.

The initial destination for two rigs is undecided at this time. Exxon has not finalized the location of the Glomar Jack Ryan drillship, although West Africa is the leading candidate. Agip also is undecided on the location for the Saipem 10000. The rig is believed to be destined for work off Brazil or West Africa, with West Africa the frontrunner.

Delivery

Since January, four deepwater rigs have begun working. Three of these rigs are Noble EVA conversions - the Noble Paul Romano, the Noble Jim Thompson (both working for Shell in the Gulf of Mexico), and the Noble Paul Wolff working for Petrobras in Brazil. The other active rig is the Conoco/R&B Falcon Deepwater Frontier, which worked for Conoco off New Zealand and has now moved to Côte d'Ivoire.

Six rigs have been delivered in the past few months and are expected to be drilling or on location this month. This includes four drillships and two semisubmersibles:

• Transocean's drillship - Discoverer Enterprise - will begin working for BP Amoco in the Gulf of Mexico.
• Pride International/Sonangol's Pride Africa drillship will drill a well on the Girassol Field in Block 17 off Angola.
• R&B Falcon's Deepwater Millennium drillship will work for Statoil in the Gulf of Mexico.
• R&B Falcon's Peregrine IV drillship will arrive in Brazil to work for Petrobras.
• Noble's Noble Amos Runner EVA conversion will begin working for Marathon, Oryx, and Murphy in the Gulf of Mexico.
• Marine Drilling's Marine 700 semisubmersible will begin work for Esso in the Gulf of Mexico, possibly on the Diana/Hoover project.

Things will become very boring at the end of next year, unless there is another building boom or more major delays.

It has been rumored that contractors do have designs and proposals on the table for some new rigs. There is a chance that fabrication yards may remain busy for a little while longer, but not at the level of the past three years.

Diamond Offshore

Diamond Offshore has one rig under construction, the Ocean Confidence semisubmersible. The rig is being converted from an accommodations vessel, the Polyconfidence, to a semisubmersible capable of 7,500 ft water depth operation. The Ocean Confidence is under construction at the TDI-Halter yard in Sabine Pass, Texas and is in the process of final outfitting.

All structural modifications have been completed and installed on the conversion and the vessel is scheduled to leave the shipyard in mid- December to begin sea trials and commissioning. From there, the rig will move into the Gulf of Mexico for its initial five-year contract (plus options) with BP Amoco and begin drilling the first well on April 1.

Ensco

Ensco has moved into the deepwater game with a major contract with Burlington Resources for its Ensco 7500 design. The rig is under construction in the TDI-Halter, Orange, Texas yard and is approximately on schedule and within budget.

As of this month, the fabrication and erection through the top of the columns will be complete and the rig will begin service in July or August of next year. Burlington has contracted the rig for three years plus three one-year options. The Ensco 7500 will be outfitted to 7,500 ft operating water depth and begin service in the Gulf of Mexico.

Global Marine

Global Marine has two drillships designed for 12,000 ft water depth operation under construction in the Harland & Wolff yard in Belfast, Ireland. The company has named the two identical rigs in honor of two of its former executives: the Glomar C.R. Luigs and the Glomar Jack Ryan. Late this month the first of the vessels, the Glomar C.R. Luigs, will be christened in a ceremony in Belfast and will shortly thereafter begin sea trials. Delivery to operator BHP for the initial three-year contract will be later in the fourth quarter this year, notably on time and on budget. Despite the 12,000 ft water depth design criteria, the rig will be outfitted for 9,000 ft water depth and will begin operation in the Gulf of Mexico.

Construction on the Glomar Jack Ryan is also on schedule. The substructure and bottom section of the derrick are in place and delivery should occur by the first quarter of 2000. The rig will be outfitted to 8,000 ft water depth and will work for Exxon on a three-year contract. The final drilling location has not been finalized at this time but it is rumored to begin work off West Africa.

Marine Drilling

Marine Drilling has delivered its newbuild fifth generation semisubmersible, the Marine 700, to Esso. The Marine 700 is the first semisubmersible rig to be built in the US since 1983. The rig was fabricated at the Friede Goldman Offshore - East yard in Pascagoula, Mississippi and delivered one day ahead of schedule.

At the time of delivery Esso, which holds the initial five-year contract on the rig, declined acceptance of the rig saying the rig was not ready.

Marine and Esso then negotiated an amendment to the contract for a delivery extension in return for a lower day rate. The rig was accepted by the operator in the beginning of August and should begin drilling late this month or early next month. The rig is outfitted for 7,500 ft water depth and will most likely work on the Diana/Hoover prospect in the Gulf of Mexico.

Noble Drilling

Noble Drilling has had preformance success with its new deepwater fleet additions. The Noble Paul Wolff semisubmersible left the shipyard early this year and began a six-year contract with Petrobras. On its first well, the rig has set the world water depth drilling record in the Campos Basin in 8,016 ft. This eclipsed the previous world record held by Global Marine's Glomar Explorer set in the Gulf of Mexico at 7,718 ft.

The Noble Paul Wolff is one of five conversion projects based on the company's EVA-4000 design. This entails converting a three-column submersible into a semisubmersible capable of drilling in 6,000 ft conventionally moored or 8,800 ft dynamically positioned. Three of the other EVA conversions are also working. The Noble Paul Romano was the first to leave the shipyard back in December and is currently working for Shell in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Noble Paul Wolff was next to leave and was followed by the Noble Jim Thompson. The Noble Jim Thompson left the HAM Marine Pascagoula, Mississippi shipyard in June and is working for Shell in the Gulf of Mexico on a three-year contract.

The last EVA to enter service was the Noble Amos Runner which departed the HAM shipyard in early August. It should begin working this month in the Gulf of Mexico under a five-year deal with Marathon, Oryx, and Murphy.

One more EVA is still to come. The Noble Max Smith is under construction in the HAM shipyard and is due out in December. Noble has not secured a contract for this rig, but does have a letter of intent with Amerada Hess and UPRC for a five-year contract in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Noble Homer Ferrington semisubmersible is also under construction at the TDI-Halter yard in Sabine Pass, Texas and is due out in March. The rig is not an EVA conversion but an enhanced Friede & Goldman Enhanced Pacesetter design and will be equipped to work conventionally moored in 6,000 ft water depth. Noble is also still in a letter of intent for this rig with Mariner and Samedan for the initial contract in the Gulf of Mexico.

Noble also has three rigs idle waiting for contract before being upgraded or conversion. The Noble Fri Rod* submersible is available for an EVA conversion, the Noble Ilion Friede & Goldman 9500 Enhanced Pacesetter semisubmersible is stacked and ready for a full upgrade, and the Shelf 6 Friede & Goldman 9500 Enhanced Pacesetter design semisubmersible is in the Dalian shipyard in China awaiting a contract.

Ocean Rig

Ocean Rig has the four largest semisubmersibles under construction. The four units are of the Bingo 9000 design. The first two rigs, Bingo 9000-1 and Bingo 9000-2 are under construction in the Friede Goldman yard in Pascagoula, Mis sissippi. The deck modules and steel modules are in place and outfitting of the drilling and marine equipment is underway on the Bingo 9000-1. The Bingo 9000-2 is about three months behind the first rig and is still undergoing some steel work.

The hulls for the units were fabricated at the Dalian shipyard in China and were transported to the Friede Goldman yard late last year. The Bingo 9000-1 will be outfitted for 7,500 ft water depth and the Bingo 9000-2 will be capable of 10,000-ft operation. However, Ocean Rig has yet to secure a contract on either of the two rigs. The company is handling the marketing and is looking towards Brazil for a possible first contract of 12-18 months with Petrobras.

Friede Goldman has also notified Ocean Rig that the rigs will be delayed and the companies are in discussions about the implications. Deliv ery of the first rig was expected in October but has been pushed back to March 31, while the Bingo 9000-2 will be delivered around June 30.

Ocean Rig has decided to outfit the second two rigs, Bingo 9000-3 and 9000-4, to the baredeck hull stage only. The Bingo 9000-3 was delivered from the Dalian yard in May and the 9000-4 will be delivered this month. These units will be on hold until drilling contracts have been finalized for the first two rigs.

Pride International

Pride International's deepwater fleet is on schedule. The company has six rigs, two drillships and four semisubmersibles, either under construction or about to begin working. The two drillships, the Pride Africa and Pride Angola, are of the Gusto 10000 design and are owned through a joint-venture between Pride and Angolan state-owned Sonangol.

The Pride Africa was christened in May and will be on-station on Block 17 offshore Angola this month. The rig will begin drilling the next Girassol well late this month. The sister vessel, Pride Angola, is undergoing sea trials and will be on location, also on Block 17, by year-end. The rigs are designed for 10,000 ft water depth but are outfitted to 6,000 ft. Both rigs are under contract to Elf for five and three years, respectively, plus options.

On the semisubmersible side, Pride has four Megathyst designed Amethyst units - Amethyst 4, 5, 6, and 7. The first two rigs, the Amethyst 4 and 5 are under construction at the TDI-Halter yard in Pascagoula, Mississippi, where as the other two, Amethyst 6 and 7, are being built at the Daewoo shipyard in South Korea. Three of the four Amethysts are between 30 and 40% complete and the fourth is 10% complete. Delivery for all four vessels is slated for the second quarter of next year. The rigs have contracts with Petrobras for between five and seven years.

Pride had two other Amethyst rigs, Amethyst 2 and 3, under construction at the Davie Shipyard in Canada some time back. However, the Davie yard filed for bankruptcy and construction was cancelled. The rigs still had contracts with Petrobras up to the middle of this year when the contracts were, as Pride called it, "amicably cancelled." No progress is underway on these rigs and the company is looking for an opportunity to begin construction.

R&B Falcon

R&B Falcon has had a great deal of success and a great deal of trouble in the past year with its deepwater rigs. The company, through a joint venture with Conoco, developed the Deepwater Drillship design which has been tremendously successful and is the design for four rigs. All four rigs were or are under construction at the Samsung yard in South Korea, and the shipyard has thus far delivered the rigs either on time or ahead of schedule. The first two rigs the Deepwater Pathfinder and the Deepwater Frontier are owned by both companies under the joint company, Deepwater Drilling, and have since begun drilling. The Deepwater Pathfinder was delivered last year and has already claimed its first discovery in the Gulf of Mexico, while the Deepwater Frontier spudded the deepest well ever off New Zealand and will now drill a deepwater well off Côte d'Ivoire.

The other two drillships, the Deepwater Millennium and Deepwater Discovery, are owned exclusively by R&B Falcon. The Deepwater Millennium was completed and delivered from Samsung to R&B a miraculous four months ahead of schedule. The vessel will begin drilling for Statoil this month in the Gulf of Mexico on a five-year contract.

The Deepwater Discovery is under construction and will be delivered from Samsung in June of next year. The rig is contracted to Texaco for a three-year term and will begin drilling off West Africa.

The company has had difficulty with the Peregrine drillships. The company had originally intended four of the vessels for conversion into ultra-deepwater drillships - the Peregrine IV, Peregrine VI, the Peregrine VII, and Peregrine VIII. But, the conversion projects became very costly and the contracts on the Peregrine VI and Peregrine VIII were cancelled and the projects terminated. However, the remaining two projects carried forth despite high costs and the first Peregrine has been delivered.

The Peregrine IV conversion was completed by the Keppel Shipyard in Singapore within its operator's delivery window. The vessel has completed sea trials and is on the way to Brazil for deepwater trials before it begins its six-year contract with Petrobras.

The Peregrine VII is in the final stages of outfitting, testing, and commissioning at the Cammell Lairds Shipyard in Birkenhead, UK. Delivery for the vessel is scheduled for November. It will work for BP Amoco off Angola under a three-year contract. The rig will have the shallowest operating depth of any of the R&B Falcon rigs, at 7,500 ft.

R&B Falcon has an additional drillship under construction through a joint venture with Navis under which R&B Falcon has a 37% share. The Navis Explorer I drillship is under construction at the Samsung yard in South Korea and delivery is expected in March of next year. The rig will be rated for 10,000 ft operating water depth. No contract has been secured at this time. R&B Falcon will manage the drillship when it is delivered.

In addition to drillships, R&B Falcon has contracts on two semisubmersibles capable of drilling in 10,000 ft based on the RBS-8 design. The first semisubmersible is the moored RBS-8M configuration. It has been named the Deepwater Nautilus and is 90% complete at the Hyundai Heavy Industries yard in South Korea. The rig will deliver in December and work for Shell in the Gulf of Mexico for a five-year contract.

Following the Deepwater Nautilus is the DP version, the Deepwater Horizon. Hyundai Heavy Industries began cutting first steel on the rig this month and will deliver in November of next year. The rig will be work for Vastar in the Gulf of Mexico for three years.

Saipem

Saipem is busy working on its Saipem 10000 drillship. The drillship is under construction at the Samsung yard in South Korea. The drillship will be rated for 10,000 ft water depth operation and 140,000 bbl of crude oil storage for extended well testing. The ship is on schedule and on budget. At this time, the hull is afloat and Samsung has begun the final outfitting exercise and is expected for delivery in March of 2000.

Agip holds the initial contract on the rig for five years. The primary drilling location has not been finalized as of yet but has been speculated to be between Brazil and West Africa, with West Africa being the front-runner.

Schahin Engenharia e Comercio

Early this year, Friede Goldman signed a $143 million contract with Schahin Engenharia e Comercio of Brazil for the company's Millennium SA (South America) semisubmersible design. According to the contract, Friede Goldman will handle the engineering, procurement, and construction of the rig at the Friede Goldman Offshore - East yard in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

Construction has not yet begun on this project at this time. Friede Goldman has performed some engineering on the project but is awaiting final financing before work begins. Schahin has secured a six-year contract with Petrobras for work off Brazil. Once construction begins, delivery will take about 23 months.

Smedvig

Smedvig has two deepwater rigs under construction: the West Navion drillship and the West Venture semisubmersible. The West Navion drillship was at one time part of a pair of multi-service shuttle tankers being converted to drillships based on a Statoil design. However, last year due to major delays and cost overruns, Smedvig cancelled the second drillship. Now the West Navion has been reported to be 91% complete, but latest cost estimates on the project have risen to $560-600 million. The rig is expected out in the fourth quarter, but uncertainties still exist relating to delivery and commissioning of critical topsides components.

Upon completion, the West Navion will work for Statoil on a multi-year contract. Some months back, Statoil cancelled the contract but then withdrew the cancellation the same day and offered Smedvig a new one-year contract. The rig is under construction at the Offshore & Marine yard in Sandnes, Norway.

Smedvig's other rig, the semisubmersible West Venture, developed in cooperation with Norsk Hydro, is currently 95% complete. The rig is a fifth generation semisubmersible fitted with the RamRig drilling package and equipped for 8,500 ft water depth operation. The rig is under construction at the Hitachi yard in Japan and will work for Norsk Hydro on a five-year contract initially on the Troll Field off Norway.

Transocean Sedco Forex

The soon-to-be world's largest driller will have a major boost in its deepwater fleet next year. By the time the Transocean Sedco Forex merger goes through on the target date of December 31, the combined company will have two new working deepwater rigs and four expected by the end of 2000.

Each company will bring an equal share of newbuilds to the merger. Sedco Forex will have three deepwater Sedco Express design semisubmersibles and Transocean will have three Enterprise-class deepwater drillships.

The first Sedco Express to enter operation will be the Sedco Express under construction at the DCN yard in Brest, France. The rig will be equipped for 6,000 ft water depth and will begin work in the fourth quarter of this year. The initial contract is for three years with Elf off Angola.

Sedco will follow with the two remaining Sedco Express rigs, the Sedco Energy and the Cajun Express, both due out for the first quarter. The Sedco Energy is also under construction at the DCN yard and will initially work on a five-year contract for Texaco offshore Nigeria. The rig will be outfitted for 7,500 ft water depth operation.

The Cajun Express is under construction at the PPL yard in Singapore and will be outfitted for 8,500 ft water depth. The rig will work for Marathon in the Gulf of Mexico on a 3-5 year contract.

Transocean has finally received its first newbuild. The Discoverer Enterprise drillship was scheduled to begin work for BP Amoco on a five-year contract in the Gulf of Mexico late last month. The rig left the Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi in July, began sea trials, and was due on location shortly after.

Transocean's next delivery will be the Discoverer Spirit drillship, which is identical to the Discoverer Enterprise. The hull was fabricated in the Astano shipyard in Spain and was launched in May and underwent final hull outfitting. The hull left Astano for the Aker Gulf Marine yard in Ingleside, Texas next month. Aker will perform the final outfitting of the topsides, mud modules, and drilling systems. Sea trials are scheduled for February 2000 and delivery for March. The Discoverer Spirit will work for Unocal on a five-year contract in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Discoverer Deep Seas, is approximately six months behind the Discoverer Spirit. The rig will begin work in September for Chevron on a five-year contract in the Gulf of Mexico.