Singapore: Keppel to Deliver Sixth Ultra-Deepwater Semi to Ensco

Keppel FELS Limited is on course to deliver ENSCO 8505, the sixth of seven ENSCO 8500 Series® ultra-deepwater semisubmersible (semi) drilling rigs to Ensco safely, on time and within budget.

The rig is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2012 with zero lost-time incidents in over five million man-hours worked. Upon completion, ENSCO 8505 is contracted in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico with Anadarko, Apache and Noble Energy.

With Singapore’s Minister of State for Transport and Finance, Mrs Josephine Teo, as the guest-of-honour, the rig was named ENSCO 8505 at Keppel FELS .

Mrs Teo said, “In addition to the ability to offer customised solutions, our shipyards have long established a strong reputation for quality and timeliness. Keppel FELS’ achievement today has done Singapore proud and bears testament to their capabilities and reputation as a leader in their field.”

Designed to address some of the most demanding offshore drilling requirements at water depths up to 8,500 feet, ENSCO 8505 features a two million pound quad derrick, offline pipe handling capability, 35,000 feet drilling capacity and 8,000 tonnes of variable deck load.

The fifth in the Series, ENSCO 8504, was delivered by Keppel FELS to Ensco in August this year and has commenced drilling for Total in Brunei.

Mr Daniel W. Rabun, Ensco’s Chairman, President & CEO, said, “Our ENSCO 8500 Series® rigs have proven to be a success wherever they operate including Asia, South America and North America. We are confident ENSCO 8505 will perform well and help us maintain our ranking as number one in customer service in the offshore drilling sector.

“Keppel FELS has been a reliable partner achieving an impressive safety record during construction while providing cost-efficient, purpose built vessels on time. This enables us to perform at the highest level for our customers.”

Ensco currently has four additional rigs under construction at Keppel FELS. This includes ENSCO 8506, the final ultra-deepwater semisubmersible in the Series with delivery expected in 2012, and three KFELS Super A Class jackup rigs with deliveries scheduled in 2013 and 2014. The first jackup to be delivered, ENSCO 120, is already contracted for work in the Central North Sea.

The three jackup rigs under construction, ENSCO 120, ENSCO 121 and ENSCO 122 provide increased drilling efficiencies for multi-well platform programs, ultra-deep gas drilling, and ultra-long reach wells of up to 40,000 feet drilling depth.

Mr Tong Chong Heong, CEO of Keppel Offshore & Marine, added, “Ensco has been a long-term customer and we are proud that they have entrusted us with 19 major newbuild projects worth nearly US$4.8 billion in total. ENSCO 8505 is the 15th rig that we will be delivering with our hallmark of quality and timeliness. Being able to deliver six 8500 Series rigs within 42 months with the seventh due next year is testament to the excellent execution and productivity gains we have developed with Ensco.

“Our close collaboration includes customising products to fit the market and we are glad that the ultra-premium harsh environment KFELS Super A Class rigs we are building for Ensco have received market acceptance with the recent contracting of ENSCO 120. We are committed to delivering these high-specification rigs to the highest satisfaction of Ensco.”