U.S. drilling contractor Rowan Companies Inc. has cancelled or suspended the construction of three new-build jack-ups, the company has reported.

Construction of a a 240-C, one of the company’s latest Le Tourneau jack-up designs and the fourth of its type, has been cancelled.

Rowan leadership has asked the shipyard building it an enhanced Super 116E class rig to suspend construction “pending (a) decision in coming months to go forward”, the company said in its monthly fleet status report.

On another jack-up, understood to be the Joe Doublas, rig construction has currently stopped ahead of a “determination to resume construction expected by mid-year 2009”.

The company has four other new-build rigs under construction at various yards.

In the first 2009 edition of Scandoil.com affiliate Scandinavian Oil-Gas Magazine’s, the publication has produced an intimate report on how the credit crunch is playing out in the rig market. The report casts light on how fickle is impacting some players.

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