The world's top tender-assist rig operator, SapuraKencana Drilling (SKD), has taken delivery of its first state of the art tender-assist drilling barge since coming under the ownership of SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd, the Malaysia-based global integrated oil and gas services and solutions provider. The new rig, named T-17, was built at the Cosco Shipyard located in Nantong, China.
The naming ceremony was held on 22 May 2013 and officiated by Sapurakencana President and Group Chief Executive Officer, Dato' Seri Shahril Shamsuddin, SKD Senior Vice-President Raphael Siri and other senior officials. The barge was named at the Cosco Shipyard by Datin Yazreen binti Yahaya.
The T-17 is designed for offshore oil and gas development drilling of depths up to 20,000 feet in up to 6,000 feet water depth. Featuring state of the art drilling and well control equipment, large storage capacities and the ability to sleep 160 crew members, this rig is built for increased safety and performance. It is being mobilised to work in the Gulf of Thailand with long-time SKD client PTTEP of Thailand as replacement for an older vessel, the T-3.
"SKD is now the main player in the worldwide tender rig business with 21 tender rigs of which 13 are tender barges and 8 are semi-tenders," said Dato' Seri Shahril. "We aim to strengthen our already dominant position with more newbuilds and at the same time synergize with SapuraKencana Petroleum's integrated services value proposition."
"Our vision is to be the best entrepreneurially led, technically competent and most trusted global oil and gas company in the eyes of our customers, shareholders and most importantly our empowered staff," he added.
SKD became a fully owned entity of Sapurakencana Petroleum following its acquisition of London-based Seadrill's entire tender rig business for US$2.85 billion in May 2013.
SKD is the largest and most experienced tender-assist driller with over 30 years of experience in the field and currently operates in South-east Asia, West Africa and Central America.
The new T-17 will soon be joined in service by another newbuild, the semi-tender rig Esperanza that was recently built by Keppel FELS in Singapore. The Esperanza is designed for deepwater offshore oil and gas development drilling of depths up to 30,000 feet in up to 6,500 feet water depth.
The rig features cutting edge drilling and well control equipment, with drilling capabilities comparable with much larger and more expensive semi-submersibles and drill ships. It will be dry-towed out of Singapore in June to go to work for Hess Corporation in Equatorial Guinea on the Operator's "Okume-E" TLP for an 18 month contract.
These two new build rigs will positively impact the overall SKD fleet age profile and extend the company's drilling capabilities and revenues even further.