Technology from Europe:
Norway

New tender rig design under construction

Norwegian drilling contractor Smedvig recently contracted for the building of a newly designed tender rig. The self-erecting unit, designated “T-10,” is under construction in southern Malaysia by Malaysia Marine & Heavy Engineering Sdn Bnd.

Construction cost of just the vessel, itself, will be about $48.8 million. The derrick equipment set required for the unit will cost another $40.2 million, bringing the vessel’s total cost to about $89 million. Estimated delivery date to Smedvig is at the end of second-quarter 2007. Smedvig’s actual ownership share will be 49%. SapuraCrest Petroleum of Malaysia will own 51%.

Smedvig’s new T-10 tender rig will be similar in appearance to the T-9 unit (above), but it will feature greatly enhanced drilling capabilities and efficiencies, including parallel operations. Photo courtesy of Smedvig ASA.

This new tender rig will be similar in appearance to Smedvig’s T-9 unit, already in operation (see photo). However, the T-10 will have enhanced drilling capabilities that will allow for parallel operations. The new equipment set will allow for greatly enhanced drilling efficiency. Smedvig said that the new unit will be particularly suited to production drilling in shallow and deepwater areas of Southeast Asia.

Carigali Triton, a joint venture of Amerada Hess and Petronas Carigali, has already awarded Smedvig a three-year production drilling contract for the T-10, worth an estimated $84 million. The job will begin soon after the rig is delivered to the contractor. Carigali Triton is the operator of Gulf of Thailand Block A-18 in the Malaysia-Thailand Joint Development Area. The T-10 is destined to work in this block, which contains Cakerawala field and seven other gas discoveries. To cover its most recent gas sales agreement, the operator expects to conduct prolonged development drilling that should result in a doubling of proved gas reserves.