New vessels, rigs & upgrades
Marshall DeLuca
Houston
Saibos-Saipem field development ship.
- Friede Goldman's Millenium SA deepwater semi [50,951 bytes].
- PGS' Ramform Banff FPSO has begun oil production on the Banff field [12,158 bytes].
![Friede Goldman's Millenium SA deepwater semi [50,951 bytes].](http://images.pennwellnet.com/ogj/images/off3/0399osVESSFig2.jpg){kind=link}
![PGS' Ramform Banff FPSO has begun oil production on the Banff field [12,158 bytes].](http://images.pennwellnet.com/ogj/images/off3/1098offvess2.jpg){kind=link}
Bouygues, Saipem award contract for new field development ship
Bouygues Offshore subsidiary Saibos, and equal partner Saipem, have awarded Samsung Heavy Industries a $150 million contract for the construction of a field development ship capable of installing all equipment necessary to develop deep offshore fields. The vessel will be dynamically positioned, capable of operating in 9,000 ft of water, have a 600-ton lifting capacity, and a J-lay tower capable of installing 20-in. diameter pipe.The vessel is the result of an initial project award to Bouygues and partners ETPM and Stolt Comex of $410 million from Elf for the umbilicals and flowlines on the Girassol Field off Angola. The vessel will initially be used for development of this field and upon completion will be employed in other deepwater projects.
More cancellations for Santa Fe, Ensco, Rowan
Santa Fe, Ensco, and Rowan have been added to the list of contractors having rig contracts terminated. Occidental Petroleum of Qatar recently terminated the contract on Santa Fe International's Rig 127 250-ft cantilever jackup. As part of the contract, an early termination payment of $2.4 million will be paid to Santa Fe, which equates to about 88% of the cash flow that would have been earned under the contract.Ensco also had contracts on six barge drilling units terminated ahead of schedule. Venezuelan state-owned PDVSA elected for a buyout of the remaining contracts on the Ensco XI, XII, XIV, and XV rigs for a lump sum payment of $13.5 million, 91% of the cash flow that would have been earned during the life of the contract. The contracts on these rigs were set to expire in the third quarter of this year. PDVSA also bought out the contracts on the Ensco V and VI barge rigs for $5.2 million. The contracts were set to expire in July and May of this year, respectively.
Rowan, on the other hand, was dealt a much stiffer punishment. After delivering the premium Gorilla V jackup to Amoco a few months ago for a contract in the North Sea, the operator has canceled the contract, alleging a performance breach relating to certain equipment problems. Rowan has disputed this breach and plans to enforce the contract through legal means.
The company currently has high exposure during this downturn as one of the leading jackup providers and has watched day rates and utilization steadily decline. As a result, the company announced that they have delayed completion on two newbuild Gorilla-class jackups by a year. The company maintains that it still has its remaining Gorilla fleet under contract at strong day rates and plans to use the time caused by the market lull to upgrade its idle rigs.
This construction delay could be evidence of a new trend in the market that may be coming into play. Many experts are predicting that contractors building on spec will slow down construction to a crawl until rates stabilize as Rowan did. But, at least Rowan has a strong fleet to compensate for the downtime, while others, such as some new players to the game without an advanced fleet, do not. This could be another hard lesson learnt from building on spec.
Friede Goldman gets newbuild contract
Friede Goldman seems to be fairing extremely well during the downturn. The company has several projects underway in their respective yards and has signed a contract for the construction of its Millenium SA design. The company signed the contract valued at $143 million with Schahin Engenharia e Comercio of Brazil. The Millenium SA (South America) will be a 5,000-ft capability dynamically positioned deepwater semisubmersible. The rig will feature a DPS-2 system and a 3,500 LT variable deckload. Friede Goldman and its subsidiaries will handle the engineering, provision of equipment, and construction at the Friede Goldman Offshore - East yard in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Schahin will operate the rig off Brazil under a six-year contract with Petrobras. Delivery is expected in 23 months.R&B Falcon rally continues
Over the past several months, R&B Falcon has had more than its share of bad luck. The company had contract terminations on two drillship conversions (Peregrine VI, Peregrine VIII), a contract termination on its Jack Bates semi for "certain performance breaches", and the increased delay and cost of its Peregrine VII drillship conversion. However, the company had a significant rally from these losses with contract extensions on two semis and signature on the final contract of a new RBS-8D deepwater semi from Vastar. Now, it seems the rally will continue.Just as the company's first deepwater drillship, the Deepwater Pathfinder, began drilling its first well in Garden Banks Block 783 in the Gulf of Mexico for Conoco, and the second drillship, Deepwater Frontier, is getting ready to roll out of the shipyard ahead of schedule, the company finalized a deal for yet another newbuild. R&B has signed the contract with Texaco for a new 10,000-ft, fully DP Deepwater IV drillship to be used off West Africa. The newbuild is an enhanced version of the company's Deepwater design used on the Pathfinder and Frontier and serves as a substitute for the canceled contract on the Peregrine VIII. In fact, the drillship will be equipped with the equipment ordered for the Peregrine VIII.
The vessel will be built at the Samsung yard in South Korea, birthplace of the Pathfinder, Frontier, and Deepwater III. Based on Samsung's performance with these vessels (Pathfinder being delivered on time and Frontier and Deepwater III expected out ahead of schedule), R&B feels that the new drillship will be on time and under budget.
New stimulation vessel
Halliburton has added a third new vessel to its stimulation fleet in the Gulf of Mexico. The company launched the Stim Star state-of-the-art deepwater stimulation vessel into the Gulf last month. The vessel is equipped to deliver the company's stimulation technology solutions to customers on both the shelf and in the deepwater. It joins Halliburton's War Admiral and Man-o-War vessels in the company's Gulf fleet, which also offers both deepwater and on-shelf stimulation technology solutions.Ramform Banff onstream
PGS' Ramform Banff FPSO has come onstream. First oil has been achieved from the Banff Field on Blocks 29/2a and 22/27a in the UK sector of the North Sea. The Conoco-operated field began production with an initial rate between 6,000-34,000 b/d of oil during the first three days of production. Peak production is expected to be 60,000 b/d of oil with the field holding an estimated 80 million bbl. Production was commenced from two wells supported by two water injection wells tied into the vessel. The Ramform Banff has been contracted by Conoco for the life of the field, which is estimated to be at least eight years. The vessel has a production capacity of 95,000 b/d of oil, 89,000 b/d of water, and 72 MMcf/d of gas.Copyright 1999 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.