Norwegian drilling major Seadrill has ordered two jack-ups for a combined £300million.
The firm said the rigs would be built by Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Offshore in China and targeted delivery of the final quarter of 2015 and the first quarter of 2016.
The jack-ups, which will be capable of operating in water 400ft deep and drilling to 30,000ft, mean Seadrill now has eight jack-ups under construction at the Chinese shipyard, with two scheduled for delivery as early as this year.
Fredrik Halvorsen, chief executive of Seadrill Management, said: “These two additional orders highlight our commitment to growing our high specification jack-up fleet.
“The jack-up market has traditionally been a shorter term market, however we expect longer term contracts to be executed going forward. In addition to increased term we expect to see rising dayrates as attrition accelerates amongst an aging global fleet.
“These two new orders will increase Seadrill’s jack-up fleet to 29 units and strengthen our position as the largest operator of modern high specification drilling units.”
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