"The feedback from our rig managers working on Shell operations is that our crews are proud to work for a western drilling company like KCA DEUTAG, which highly values their safety. People are given the proper tools to improve on their safety, and proactive safe behaviour is recognised and rewarded. Competent people are hired and newcomers are trained before being exposed to the workplace. Taken together, all of these practices have contributed to our excellent safety performance to date."

KCA DEUTAG has been named Shell International Exploration & Production's Top HSE Performing Drilling Contractor of the Year 2007, at a recent forum in Houston, USA. The Shell Rig Forum was attended by more than 80 personnel from the international oil and gas contracting sector.

Speaking at the forum Peter Sharpe, VP Technical - Wells at Shell, said: "KCA DEUTAG's focus on safety is industry leading, as demonstrated by this achievement with a rig fleet spread across many different countries and operating environments. The company's continuous nurturing of a safety culture among all its crews, combined with a robust set of safety tools and systems, are such that it has achieved an excellent safety record in all its operations for Shell. This goes a long way in our drive for zero incidents in the workplace."

In the twelve months up to the end of the second quarter of 2007, 10 of KCA DEUTAG's land rigs working for Shell worldwide in Oman, Russia, Nigeria and Brunei reported a Total Recordable Case Frequency (TRCF) of zero, which means that there were no injurious incidents on any of these rigs for the last twelve months. Five rigs are over one year incident-free and two are over 1000 days without incident.

Simon Drew, Vice-President KCA DEUTAG Drilling Inc, who picked up the award on behalf of all the crews, said: "All of our rig crew teams are to be congratulated on achieving this high level of safety performance, which Shell has recognised in making this award. This achievement reflects the commitment by all KCA DEUTAG staff to our safety ethos and their compliance with safety procedures and systems in order to maintain a high standard of safety.

Tags: KCA DEUTAG Drilling Ltd., Shell