Seadrill has entered into an agreement for the construction of two jack-up drilling rigs with Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Offshore Co., Ltd (DSIC) in China. The new units are scheduled for delivery in the fourth quarter 2012 and first quarter 2013 respectively, and total project cost is estimated at US$380 million, which include project management, drilling and handling tools, spares and capitalized interest.

In addition, Seadrill has option agreements for construction of further two similar units with DSIC.

The two rigs ordered from Dalian represent the latest generation, high specification jack-up drilling rigs with greater capacities and capabilities than current more conventional units. The units are based on the Friede & Goldman JU2000E design, and are suitable for operations world wide, including the southern North Sea. The units have the capability to operate in water depths up to 400 ft and drill to depths of 30,000ft. They also offer improved drilling efficiencies with off-line pipe handling, simultaneous operations support and increased accommodation capacity.

Alf C Thorkildsen, Chief Executive Officer in Seadrill Management AS, says," We expect market and conditions for premium jack-up rigs to continue to improve. These newbuild orders position our Company to meet the demand from our customers and further strengthen our position as the leading operator of modern, high quality offshore drilling units. Our jack-up rig fleet will, including the recent acquisition of Scorpion and the two recently ordered rigs from Jurong, constitutes the world largest modern jack-up fleet with a total of 18 units built after 2006."

Tags: Seadrill