SINGAPORE: Keppel FELS is on course to deliver the ultra-deepwater semi-submersible drilling rig Ensco 8505, the sixth of seven rigs in the 8500 series, to major US contractor Ensco.
The company expects to have the rig completed and delivered by the end of March, with zero lost-time incidents in more than 5million man-hours worked at the Far East yard.
Once ready, the semi-submersible is scheduled to go on contract to Anadarko Petroleum, Apache Corporation, and Noble Energy for drilling in the US Gulf of Mexico.
The 8500 class is designed to address some of the most demanding offshore drilling requirements at water depths to 2,591m (8,500ft).
The 8505 unit features a 2million pounds capability “quad” derrick, offline pipe-handling capability, (10,668m) 35,000ft drilling capacity, and 8,000 tons of variable deck load.
Keppel FELS delivered the fifth semi in the series, the Ensco 8504, in August, since when it has started operations with Total, drilling offshore Brunei.
Ensco currently has four further rigs under construction at Keppel FELS. This includes the Ensco 8506, the final ultra-deepwater semisubmersible in the series with delivery expected later this year, plus three more KFELS Super-A Class jack-ups with deliveries scheduled in 2013 and 2014.
The first jack-up to be delivered in the current block order, Ensco 120, is already contracted for work in the Central North Sea, development drilling for Nexen Petroleum on the Golden Eagle development.