Keppel FELS Completes Two Rigs Early for Transocean and Asia Offshore Drilling

Over two consecutive days on 2 and 3 February 2013, Keppel FELS held naming ceremonies for twin jackup rigs built for Transocean, and another jackup rig built for Asia Offshore Drilling (AOD), which is majority owned and managed by Seadrill Limited. For the early completion of two of these rigs, Keppel FELS will receive a combined bonus of about US$1.5 million.

Mr Wong Kok Seng, Managing Director (Offshore), Keppel Offshore & Marine, and Managing Director, Keppel FELS, said, "With some 20 rigs to deliver in 2013, we are working hard to maintain our high standards of delivering on time, within budget and without incidents. Of the rigs to be delivered this year, 15 are built to our KFELS B Class family of designs, four to our Super A Class design and one to our proprietary semisubmersible drilling tender design.

"We are pleased with the industry's acceptance of our rig designs which enables us to replicate our building process while still providing value-added and customised solutions. We are glad to be able to support our long-term customers like Transocean and Seadrill as they grow their fleet of high specification rigs."

On 2 February 2013, Transocean named twin Super B Class Bigfoot jackup rigs, Transocean Siam Driller and Transocean Andaman, at a ceremony in Keppel FELS in the presence of Guest of Honour, Mr Masagos Zulkifli, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Witnessing the naming of the jackup rigs, Mr Masagos said, "While Singapore has no oil and gas resources, thanks to companies like Keppel FELS, Singapore has made its mark in the industry. We are today the world leader in designing and building jackup rigs with a 70% market share. Keppel FELS has established a reputation for developing winning rig designs well-suited to its customers' needs.

"As the world economy grows, so will the need for energy. This means that more rigs will be needed to explore and produce fossil fuel. Singapore offshore and marine companies, with their strong capabilities built up over the years, backed by the country's good infrastructure as an international maritime centre, are well placed to remain competitive and meet the needs of the market."

Customised to meet Transocean's requirements, the two rigs are contracted to Chevron for work in offshore Thailand. Transocean Siam Driller was handed to Transocean 22 days ahead of schedule at the end of January 2013, while Transocean Andaman's shipyard construction is expected to be completed in March 2013.

Mr John Stobart, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Transocean said, "This occasion also marks an important milestone in another very long relation with Chevron in the Gulf of Thailand. For decades, Transocean and its legacy companies have had the proud distinction of being partners as a primary provider of contract drilling services to Chevron Thailand and its precursors. Our pride comes from being chosen and then being chosen again to be a part of what has become well known in the industry as one of the most innovative and efficient continuous drilling campaigns in history of the offshore industry."

The KFELS Super B Class Bigfoot is designed with larger spud cans, expanding its operational coverage in more places, especially areas where soft soil is predominant. A 1.5 million pound drilling system and maximum combined cantilever load of 3,200 kips help drive the Super B Class Bigfoot drilling operations. In addition, the rig will be installed with offline stand building features in its drilling system package, which allows for simultaneous drilling and the preparation of drill pipes to take place.

On 3 February 2013, another customer, AOD, named its KFELS B Class jackup rig, AOD I. The first of three KFELS B Class jackup rigs that AOD is currently building at Keppel FELS, AOD I has been delivered 29 days ahead of schedule and with a perfect safety record. The rig has been contracted by Saudi Aramco for work in offshore Saudi Arabia.

Mr Jon Olav Østhus, CEO of AOD, and Vice President of Seadrill Management AS said, "Seadrill already has three KFELS B Class in our fleet of jackup rigs, so we know the strength of this design and are pleased to shortly add another three to our fleet. The early delivery of the first of these three new rigs will enable us to put it to work earlier than expected and generate immediate returns on our investment. We have a strong relationship with Keppel FELS having built some 14 rigs with them since 1993 and they have always delivered rigs to our highest satisfaction. This reliability is also something that our customers can count on when they require high quality rigs on time."

When completed, the AOD series of KFELS B Class rigs will be able to operate in water depths of 400 feet, drilling depth of 30,000 feet and accommodate 150 people. They will feature 'fit for purpose' off-line pipe handling and stand building, enhanced mud systems as well as improved deck layouts, greater capacities and upgraded safety equipment.

Developed by Keppel's technology arm, Offshore Technology Development, the KFELS B Class jackup is designed to provide maximum uptime with reduced emissions and discharges. It incorporates Keppel's advanced and fully-automated high capacity rack and pinion elevating system, and Self-Positioning Fixation System.