VESSELS & SURFACE SYSTEMS

The heavy transport vessel is designed to move complex, high-value cargo such as jackup drilling units and has a carrying capacity of 35,000 tons (31,751 metric tons). This vessel was converted at the COSCO shipyard in Zhoushan, China. During the conversion, the entire midship section was replaced, and machinery and equipment were fully revised.

The remaining two converted tankers,Triumph and Trustee, will be delivered at the end of 2008.

Stena drillship launched

Stena Drilling Ltd. has named its second drillship theStena Carron, in ceremonies at Samsung Heavy Industries’ shipyard in Geoje, South Korea.

Stena Carron is a dual-mast, ultra deepwater, dynamically positioned drillship capable of drilling in water depths of 10,000 ft (3,048 m) with a total drilling depth of up to 35,000 ft (10,668 m). It is designed for maximum safety and operational efficiency in mild and harsh environments, faster transit speed between locations, and greater deck load to accommodate more equipment.

Chevron will use the vessel in a five-year northern European and international drilling campaign.

Two contracts secured for Deep Driller 2

Aban Offshore Ltd. has received letters of intent to deploy the jackupDeep Driller 2 offshore Malaysia for two separate programs.

The first, a three-well program with revenue of $17 million, has an estimated duration of 90 days in direct continuation of an existing contract.

The second contract has an estimated duration of 210 days and is for six firm wells plus one optional well, Aban says. The estimated revenue from the contract is $38 million. The deployment is to directly follow the first program.

Ezra’s EOC delivery of FPSO on schedule

EOC Ltd. is on schedule to take delivery of its first FPSO.

Originally an Aframax tanker before its conversion at Keppel Shipyard, the 140,589 dwtLewek Arunothai can export 175 MMcf/d (4.96 MMcm/d) of natural gas, ranking it amongst the largest gas FPSOs operating in the world, says Ezra.

It has helped EOC to gain a $400-million charter contract with a Southeast Asian oil company for the Gulf of Thailand.

Ezra currently manages 32 vessels and has nine more scheduled to come into service by 2010.

StatoilHydro, Woodside to share rig for GoM exploration

StatoilHydro and Woodside Petroleum have agreed to share the newly christenedMaersk Developer to drill exploration wells in the Gulf of Mexico from 4Q 2008 through to 2011.

The two companies have a three-year, 50/50 agreement to charter the deepwater semisubmersible drilling rig from Maersk Contractors. The new rig is expected to sail from Singapore for the GoM towards the end of the third quarter.

After the initial three-year term of the chartering agreement, StatoilHydro will use the rig exclusively from the fourth year, says Oivind Reinertsen, president of North America, after christening the rig in Singapore on June 21. The current charter rate is about $400,000-$500,000 per day, Reinertsen says.

Transocean leases newbuild drillship for Petrobras

Transocean Inc. has agreed with Petrobras and Mitsui to acquire a newbuild ultra deepwater drillship under a capital lease contract. Also, Petrobras has signed a 10-year drilling contract for the rig with Transocean. The agreement has an option to extend for another 10 years.

The drilling contract is expected to begin in 3Q 2009, following construction, sea trials, mobilization, and customer acceptance. Contract revenues over the decade are estimated to be $1.68 billion.

The currently unnamed ultra deepwater newbuild drillship is under construction at Samsung Heavy Industries Co Ltd. yard in Geoje, South Korea. The rig will feature Transocean’s patented dual-activity drilling technology, will have a variable deck-load of over 20,000 metric tons (22,046 tons), and the capability for development and exploration drilling in greater than 10,000 ft (3,048 m) of water depth, upgradeable to 12,500 ft (3,810 m) of water depth and 37,500 ft (11,430 m) of total drilling depth.

According to the agreement, after the 20-year capital lease contract has expired, Transocean can purchase the vessel for $1.

Scorpion orders newbuild deepwater semisubmersible

Scorpion Offshore Ltd. has contracted Keppel FELS Ltd. to construct a deepwater semisubmersible at Keppel’s shipyard in Singapore. Construction is expected to span 42 months with delivery in 4Q 2011 at cost of $700 million, including owner-furnished equipment, commissioning, project management, and financing costs.

This rig will be a dynamically positioned, four column semisubmersible capable of drilling wells to 8,500 m (27,887 ft) in 2,400 m (7,874 ft) of water.

The rig was ordered pursuant to a letter of commitment from Petrobras for operations beginning prior to June 2012. The commitment has a duration of six years with potential revenue of $1.1 billion plus operating cost inflation adjustments throughout the contract term. The cash flow from this contract will result in full payout of the cost of the rig during the initial contract term.

Scorpion’s semisubmersible contract is its second contract with Petrobras, with theOffshore Defender having begun operations in Brazil in March.

Nigerian Agip contracts Bumi Armada for FPSO

Nigerian Agip Exploration Ltd. (NAE), a subsidiary of Eni SpA, has awarded Bumi Armada Berhad a five-year, fixed-time FPSO contract, with a five-year extension period. The charter is for the lease and operation of a 1 MMbbl storage capacity FPSO to work in the Oyo field, 70 km (43 mi) off Nigeria.

Bumi Armada Berhad has acquired the Romanian-builtHistria Crown for the conversion into an FPSO with 45,000 b/d of liquid processing capacity. Water and gas injection capabilities will be included in the FPSO’s topside.

The new FPSO will be called theArmada Perdana, and first oil is expected in July 2009.