Offshore staff
HOUSTON -- A BP Plc. subsidiary has awarded Transocean Inc. a drilling contract for an enhanced Enterprise Class newbuild drillship. The vessel is to be owned and operated by a joint venture owned 65% by Transocean and 35% by an Angolan partner and is expected to work offshore Angola.
The five-year drilling contract is expected to begin in 3Q 2010, following shipyard construction, sea trials, mobilization to Angola, and customer acceptance. The term of the drilling contract could be extended to seven years at BP's election on or before March 31, 2008.
Construction of the dynamically positioned, double-hull drillship is scheduled to take place at the Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co., Ltd. yard in Okpo, South Korea, where three of Transocean's previously announced enhanced Enterprise Class drillships are being constructed.
The rig will feature Transocean's patented dual-activity drilling technology, allowing for parallel drilling operations designed to save time and money in deepwater well construction, Transocean says. The rig will also feature expanded completions capabilities. It will have a variable deckload of 20,000 metric tons (22,046 tons) and drilling capability to 2,286 m (7,500 ft) water depth, upgradeable to 3,658 m (12,000 ft). The drillship will be able to drill to 12,192 m (40,000 ft) with additional equipment.
6/21/2007
