Seadrill has signed a contract for the construction of 2 high specification jack-up oil drilling rigs with Dalian Shipbuilding Inc. in China.
The new jack-up drilling rigs are planned for delivery during the 1st and 2nd quarter of 2015, and the approximate total project price is nearly $230 million (and in this price is included project management, capitalized interest, drilling and handling tools, spares and operation preparations) for each of both drilling rigs, with tail-heavy payment terms.
The 2 new units are planned to be based on the F&G JU2000E design, with water depth capacity of 400ft and drilling depth of 30,000ft. Seadrill Company has in addition received fixed price option agreements to build an additional 2 units at Dalian Shipbuilding, with delivery in the 3rd and4th quarter of 2015. The new jack-up drilling rigs are of the same design as the 4 jack-up oil rigs currently under construction by Seadrill at Dalian and Jurong, Singapore.
John Fredriksen, who is Chairman and President of Seadrill Inc., stated: “These newbuild jack-up rigs position us for additional growth in a strengthening jack-up market, securing additional earnings upside for Seadrill. The premium jack-up market keeps demonstrating strength as evidenced by enlarging dayrates and utilizations. Clients continue show preference for newer units from drilling contractors with proven track records of safe and effective operations. Currently 312 jack-up drilling rigs or 65 per cent of the total fleet of 483 jack-up rigs are older than twenty-five years. These 2 new firm orders increases our fleet of modern jack-up drilling rigs to twenty-five rigs with an average age of three years, and further strengthens our position as the leading operator of premium modern, high-quality drilling units.”