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Source: Bloomberg
By Linus Chua
Keppel Corp., the world's biggest shallow-water oil-rig maker, said it got a $385 million contract to build a deepwater-drilling rig from Ensco International Inc. Keppel's stock gained for the first day in five.
The contract is the third order this year from Ensco, a U.S. oil and natural gas driller, which had asked Keppel in the past six years to build one rig annually, Singapore-based Keppel said in a statement to the Singapore exchange today.
Keppel, with more than $6 billion of rig orders that will fill its dockyards until 2010, is benefiting from record oil prices that have pushed oil companies to take longer-term leases on drilling rigs. Oil prices rose to a record $78.40 on July 14, trading at $61.80 at 7:45 a.m. Singapore time.
Keppel said the rig is scheduled to be delivered at the end of 2009. Ensco placed the order ``to meet the anticipated growing demand,'' Chief Executive Officer Carl Thorne said in the statement.
Keppel's shares rose 20 cents, or 1.4 percent, to S$14.60 at 9:04 a.m. Singapore time.
The rig will enable drilling in water with a depth of 8,500 feet (2,591 meters), and can be upgraded to 10,000 feet. It can also accommodate up to 150 people, Keppel said.
Keppel shares have risen 35 percent this year, the sixth- best performing stock on the Singapore benchmark Straits Times Index.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Linus Chua in Singapore at (65) 6212-1530 or lchua@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Tony Jordan at (65) 6212-1150 or Tjordan3@bloomberg.net.
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