Aker Kvaerner delays rig delivery

Offshore staff

OSLO, Norway --Aker Kvaerner expects delivery of two new rigs to Aker Drilling to be delayed by two months.

TheAker Spitsbergen is now set to be handed over at the end of July 2008, three months behind schedule. The Aker Barents will not be ready before mid-December 2008, a delay of around six weeks.

The Aker H-6e design rigs are engineered for deepwater and harsh environment operations. Aker Kvaerner blames the delays on problems affecting its subcontractors, and also on the fact that engineering has been more extensive than originally anticipated.

This may trigger penalty clauses in the contract with Aker Drilling, although the two companies plan to work closely to minimize the impact of the revised schedule.

11/28/2007