David Paganie • Houston
Rig construction
The flurry of new rig construction, upgrades, and reactivations continues. Keppel FELS Ltd. secured a $270 million contract with GlobalSantaFe Corp. (GSF) to deliver a newbuild semisubmersible drilling rig. The rig,GSF Development Driller III, will be based on proprietary design, DSS-51, jointly developed by Keppel’s Deepwater Technology Group and Marine Structure Consultants.
The DP2-equipped semi will be capable of drilling wells down to 30,000 ft in up to 10,000 ft of water in regions such as offshore Brazil, the Gulf of Mexico, West Africa, and Southeast Asia. The rig is scheduled to be delivered in 1Q 2009.
Keppel FELS also won a $177 million contact from Blackford Dolphin Pte. Ltd. to upgrade the semi drilling rig,Blackford Dolphin.
Blackford Dolphin’s objective is to extend the semi’s lifespan by 20 years, and to upgrade its drilling capabilities to enable it to operate in waters depths up to 7,000 ft. Delivery of the renovated rig is expected in June 2007.
Jurong Shipyard secured a $480 million contract from PetroMena AS to deliver a Friede & Goldman Ex-D-designed semi drilling rig. The sixth-generation semi will be designed for operations in up to 3,000 m of water. Delivery is expected by December 2009.
Singapore’s Pan-United Marine Ltd. (PUM) has won contracts worth $15.4 million to reactivate two drillships for Scotland-based Neptune Marine Oil and Gas Ltd.
Refurbishment work on the company’sNeptune Explorer and Neptune Discoverer includes steel renewal, blasting, painting, and replacement of the rigs’ drilling and marine equipment. Both renovated drillships are expected to be delivered by mid-2007.
FPSO conversions
For deepwater developments that include FPSO-type production units, operators continue to favor the fasttrack conversion alternative vs. new construction in order to take advantage of favorable commodity prices and to circumvent the newbuild backlog at the industry’s shipyards.
SBM Offshore NV signed an agreement with Angola block 15 operator, ExxonMobil, to proceed with activities for delivery of two FPSOs for the Kizomba C development project off Angola. The FPSOs will be installed on the ExxonMobil-operated Mondo and Saxi-Batuque fields in water depths of approximately 700 m. Both units will be based on the conversion of a VLCC taken from SBM’s inventory.
The production units will be equipped with capacity to handle 100,000 b/d of oil and 2 MMbbl of oil storage. Each external turret-moored unit will also be fitted with water and gas treatment capacity, reinjection facilities, and associated power generation equipment.
The FPSOs are scheduled to be delivered and installed on site for first production by 2Q 2008.
Keppel Shipyard Ltd. was awarded contracts worth $80.3 million for conversion of two FPSOs for Prosafe Production. The first contract is for the conversion of the 25-year old, 257,865-dwt tanker,M.T. Apollo, into an FPSO capable of handling 90,000 b/d of oil, 150,000 b/d of drilling fluid, and 1.78 MMbbl of oil storage. Keppel will deliver the FPSO to Devon Energy by the end of this year for installation on the Polvo field off Brazil.
The second award is for the conversion of a 25-year old, Suezmax-size tanker,M.T. Ionikos, into an FPSO capable of handling 50,000 b/d of oil, 120,000 b/d of fluid, and 770,000 bbl of oil storage. Due for completion in 1Q 2007, the FPSO will be deployed on the New Zealand Overseas Petroleum Ltd.-operated Tui field located in the Taranaki basin off New Zealand.
Prosafe also acquired a 1.9 MMbbl-VLCC built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in 1988 for conversion into an FPSO.
Bermuda-based Frontline Ltd. acquired a VLCC for conversion into an FPSO as well. After a short trading stint on the spot market, the 1990-built, 112,046-dwt tanker,Gerrita, renamedFPSO Front Puffin, will be converted for installation on the AED Oil Ltd-operated Puffin field located off northwest Australia.
Meanwhile, Keppel has successfully delivered two converted FPSO hulls. The first completed conversion project was for Marathon Oil Corp. Keppel converted the hull of the 87,000-dwt,MST ODIN, under an $51.9 million contract for installation on the Alvheim field in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.
TheAlvheim FPSO’s hull departed Keppel’s shipyard in Singapore in late January for $350 million in topside work and commissioning at Vetco Aibel in Norway. The integrated FPSO will be towed to its deployment location in early 2007.
Keppel delivered a second converted hull, with integrated topsides, to SBM for installation on the Petrobras-operated Golfinho field in the Espirito Santo basin off Brazil. The $52.2-million fasttrack conversion of theFPSO Capixabawas completed in 13 months.
It is equipped with capacity to handle 100,000 b/d of oil and 2 MMbbl of storage. The vessel will be moored in 1,350 m of water, with first production anticipated in 2Q 2006.
JVs to supply FPSOs
PGS Production and Teekay Shipping Corp. have established a joint venture company, Teekay Petrojarl Offshore, to pursue FPSO opportunities worldwide.
Both companies’ existing assets are excluded from the JV, including PGS’ current fleet of four FPSOs and redeployment of those units. Teekay says it has not yet earmarked any tankers for conversion and will equally consider third-party assets.
Teekay Shipping’s active fleet consists of more than 140 tankers, including 52 Aframax-size tankers, 13 Suezmax-size vessels, one VLCC, and four FPSOs.
Syntroleum Corp. and Bluewater Energy Services BV have formed a JV with the intent of building, owning, and operating GTL/oil FPSOs.
A feasibility study conducted by the partners addressed the fundamental concept through design of a hypothetical FPSO-type unit fitted with capacity to handle 17,000 b/d of Fischer-Tropsch products, 40,000 b/d of oil, 10,000 b/d of condensate, and 2.3 MMbbl of oil storage.•
Keppel Shipyard delivered the 87,000-dwt converted hull to Vetco Aibel’s yard in the Netherlands in late January for topside integration and vessel commissioning, prior to tow-out for field installation in early 2007. The FPSO will be installed on the Marathon-operated Alvheim field in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.
