STX Offshore & Shipbuilding announced on November 20th, 2012 that it has made effective a turn-key construction contract of one BT-UDS dynamic-positioned Ultra Deep Water (UDW) drillship plus options for four additional units from Sigma Drilling Ltd. a company established by Skeie Technology AS in Norway.
The approximate value of the contract is 672 million US dollars, amounting up to 3.5 billion dollars in total including 4 option units.
With value exceeding fifty percent of STX O&S annual performance of 6.6 billion US dollars, the drillship award is now being one of the corner stone project for STX O&S expanding its presence in the offshore shipbuilding industry all around the world.
The drillship, with a Length x Breadth x Height of 230 x 38 x 18.4 meters, is capable for drilling wells down to 12,000ft in water depth with 40,000ft drilling depth.
The UDW drillship is one of the high-value added offshore units, with its value amounting from 500 to 600 million US dollars per unit. World’s most renowned shipyards including STX O&S are only capable of constructing it in a turn-key basis.
The drillship will feature two 15,000 psi BOP (Blow Out Preventer) stacks with options to upgrade to 20,000 psi BOP and relevant systems. If applied, the drillship would be one of the first 20,000 psi compliant drillship ever built in the world. BOP is core equipment which prevents explosion of high-pressured gas, water, oil out of wells during drilling operations.
The drillship will be built in STX Jinhae Yard and scheduled to be delivered in the second half of 2015. By constructing the UDW drillship in STX Jinhae Yard, STX O&S will continue to focus on expanding its business portfolio in offshore sector.
Starting with a pipe laying vessel, STX has strengthened its capability by building a HLCV (Heavy Lift Crane Vessel), Drillships and an ultra-large FSO which STX recently being awarded from a North African oil company worth 430 million US dollars.
STX has become one of the major offshore builders through successfully constructing and delivering the largest FSO in the world. Furthermore, the drillship “Noble Globetrotter I” for Noble constructed in STX Dalian Shipyard, received a perfect score on the World Drillship Evaluation for Performance in July, 2012. With all that said, STX has become one of the most reliable offshore builders in the world.
“ The ultra deep water drillship market remains strong with its solid day rates and utilizations. The Oil Majors are driving the surging demand for newbuild orders. STX will continue to prove its competitiveness in offshore industry ,” said STX spokesperson .
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STX, November 26, 2012