Petrobras to Charter and Operate Nine Drillships (Brazil)

Petrobras has signed contracts with Sete Brasil, Odebrecht and Etesco to charter and operate nine drillships. They are to be built in Brazil, with local content (Brazilian goods and services) of 55-65%. After construction, the rigs will be chartered by Petrobras for 15 years. This is the final phase in the process for ordering a total of 21 rigs from Sete Brasil.

Four of the six drillships to be built at the Enseada Paraguaçu shipyard, in Maragogipe (Bahia) will be operated by Odebrecht and the remaining two by Etesco. The Bahia shipyard is in the initial construction phase. A further three drillships are to be built at the Rio Grande 2 shipyard, in the municipality of Rio Grande (Rio Grande do Sul), and will all be operated by Etesco. Rio Grande 2 is undergoing expansion to meet growing demand for shipbuilding in Brazil.

Petrobras undertook a prior analysis of the shipyards to assess their capacity to meet the contractual commitments for building these rigs, including the minimum local content requirements and delivery timeframe. This involved verifying technical skilling, the shipyard’s construction and siting, evidence of commitments from suppliers of inputs and the main equipment packages, environmental licensing, contract management and legal/financial aspects.

Delivery of the nine drillships is scheduled to commence in 2016 and they will be used mainly for drilling wells in the Santos Basin pre-salt region, including Rights Transfer areas. The rigs will be capable of operating in water depths of up to 3,000 m and able to drill wells up to 10,000 m long.