Sevan secures drilling contract in India

June 6, 2008
Sevan Marine ASA has won the Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd. (ONGC) bid for deepwater drilling rigs, following a detailed technical clarification process in order to qualify the Sevan drilling rig for operations offshore India.

Offshore staff

ARENDAL, Norway -- Sevan Marine ASA has won the Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd. (ONGC) bid for deepwater drilling rigs, following a detailed technical clarification process in order to qualify the Sevan drilling rig for operations offshore India.

Subject to a letter of intent between the parties, the drilling contract will have a fixed term of three years. Revenues approximate $569 million including mobilization. Sevan Marine's scope is to include provision of ROVs.

Sevan Marine will provide a newbuild drilling rig to ONGC, based on its Sevan 650 design. The rig will be designed to drill in water depths to 10,000 ft (3,048 m). It will have a variable deck load of more than 15,000 metric tons (16,535 tons) and a high storage capacity of bulk materials and drilling fluids to reduce the need for re-supply. The secluded moon pool area limits the environmental impact of potential oil spills.

Sevan Marine's partner in India is Jindal Drilling & Industries Ltd., with its head office in New Delhi.

06/06/2008