Following positive feedback and strong enquiries from the market, Keppel FELS Ltd (Keppel FELS), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd (Keppel O&M), is proceeding with the building of its new CAN DO drillship. When completed in 2016, the drillship is expected to be a state-of-the-art deepwater exploration, development and completion drilling vessel.
Mr Chow Yew Yuen, Chief Operating Officer and CEO-Designate, Keppel O&M, commented, "As with all our market established proprietary designs, our new CAN DO drillship design was developed in close consultation with customers, major oil companies and vendors. The newly developed design is capable of handling next generation 20K psi blowout preventers.
"While most modern drillships currently in operation were designed and built for exploration drilling, industry feedback has revealed the need for vessels capable of performing development and completion drilling in addition to exploration drilling. Since the launch of our design earlier this year, we have received very encouraging response from the market, and we have decided to start constructing the first drillship to this design. We believe the drillship meets the high functionality, safety and cost-effective requirements of the industry."
Jointly developed by Keppel Offshore & Marine Technology Centre (KOMtech), the R&D arm of Keppel O&M, and its design partner GustoMSC, Keppel's CAN DO drillship is designed to overcome the constraints of limited deck space found in most modern day drillships.
Apart from incorporating exploration drilling requirements, the design allows for the installation of third party equipment invariably required for development and completion drilling through the incorporation of a large functional deck space. In addition, the drillship has a double blowout preventer stack integrated into the design, and has a riser hold capacity meeting 12,000 feet water depth with the flexibility of storing either 75-foot or 90-foot long risers.
The drillship has been model tested at the MARIN facility in the Netherlands and has also obtained class approval for the basic design. A full 3D model has been created for construction purposes.
A further announcement will be made once a firm contract has been secured for this drillship unit.
Posts
Keppel has been marketing a drillship design for the last couple of years in an effort to break into a segment dominated by Korean yards.
ReplyDeleteCW8888: Time to back at Korean yards!
ReplyDelete[SINGAPORE] Singapore's Keppel Corporation Ltd, the world's top offshore drilling rig maker, said it plans to build its first drillship despite not having a buyer lined up, confident the design will be welcomed by the market.
It is the first time Keppel has built a rig without a contract in at least 14 years, an examination of company announcements showed.
A leading builder of jackup rigs, which work in water depths up to 500 feet (152 metres), Keppel has yet to build a drillship from scratch and has been trying to secure a contract for its own drillship design this year.
South Korea's shipbuilding giants, Samsung Heavy Industries Co Ltd, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co Ltd and Hyundai Heavy Industries Co Ltd, dominate the market for drillships, which are used to explore oil and gas in water up to 12,000-feet deep and cost at least US$500 million a piece to build.
CW8888: Keppel is taking Bold Step with Can Do spirit. LOL!
DeleteKeppel continues to cruise ahead
DeleteOil-rig builder Keppel Corp announced that it was powering ahead with the building of its new differentiated “CAN DO” drillship which is due to be completed in 2016.
This could imply that it has received strong positive feedback and enquiries from major oil companies across the globe. One of the key differentiators of the new Keppel vessel is its larger deck space which will aid “production drilling” alongside “exploration drilling”.
This will also allow the drillship to be used for “development and completion drilling” too, increasing its attractiveness.
Macquarie Research expects orders to come in during early 2014 from major oil companies/contractors, which could put a dent in the Koreans’ dominance of the segment. The vessel may be cheaper given less steel will be used while labour costs are lower in Singapore.
KEPPEL FELS will be building its newly announced state-of-the-art "Can Do" drillship in Japan and Singapore, instead of cheaper locations such as China and the Philippines or in Korea, which is recognised for its high-quality vessels.
ReplyDeleteCW8888: Being No 1, you cannot win your competitors by being cheaper. Right strategy!
An unexpected location, Japan will offer Keppel the rare combination of high quality and affordable cost to build its deepwater exploration, development and completion drilling vessel.
"Instead of working in China, Korea or the Philippines, we decided to work with the best (Japan)," Keppel FELS managing director Wong Kok Seng told reporters yesterday.
ReplyDeleteBy Tan Hwee Hwee Singapore
10 January 2014 00:00 GMT
Transocean is understood to have issued a tender for the construction of up to five drillships after signalling its intent to invest up to $10 billion over the next five years to acquire new rigs.
CW8888: Tme for Keppel to prove its "Can Do" can compete against the Koreans.
Delete
ReplyDeleteEoin O'Cinneide
10 January 2014 09:22 GMT
Troubled yard STX Offshore & Shipbuilding has said an order for a drillship placed in 2012 has been cancelled.
Steve Marshall
Delete24 January 2014 15:10 GMT
Maersk Drilling must wait before making its ultra-deepwater drilling debut as delivery of its first drillship is delayed due to supply issues at the South Korean yard.