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Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd (Keppel O&M), has delivered a KFELS B Class design jackup drilling rig to Seadrill Management AS (Seadrill), within budget and ahead of time.
This rig was named West Prospero by Lady Sponsor Mrs Jocelyn Pedregosa Shearer, wife of Mr Ian Shearer, Senior Vice President for Jackup Units of Seadrill on 30 June 2007. Mr Liam Mallon, Chairman and Lead Country Manager of ExxonMobil Malaysia, graced the ceremony as Guest-of-Honour.
West Prospero is the second KFELS B Class rig that Keppel FELS has delivered to Seadrill. The first rig, West Ceres (ex-Seadrill 3), was delivered to Seadrill in April 2006. Keppel FELS is building two more KFELS B Class jackup rigs for Seadrill. Construction of the other two rigs is progressing according to schedule. They are due for delivery later this year and mid-2008 respectively.
At the naming ceremony, Mr Choo Chiau Beng, Chairman and CEO of Keppel O&M, said, “When completed, West Prospero will be the 16th KFELS B Class rig to operate in the market. She is a modern premium drilling rig installed with state-of-the-art equipment.
“Rigs built to the KFELS B Class design are highly efficient drilling platforms with the best safety features for drilling. With its proven track record of global operations, this design continues to be the driller's choice for modern-day jackup.”
Besides jackup rigs, the Keppel O&M group has also built and delivered five proprietary design semisubmersible drilling tender rigs to Seadrill. The yard has just been contracted to design and build the sixth for Seadrill.
Mr Alf Thorkildsen, COO and Executive Vice President of Seadrill said, "With West Prospero, Seadrill has spent a total of some US$900 million with Keppel FELS. Our investments over the years have been significant and our repeat orders at Keppel FELS are a testimony to the predictable delivery of rigs by Keppel, both in quality and schedule."
Commenting on the partnership between Keppel and Seadrill, Mr Choo added, "Keppel is privileged to be able to work with a great team of experienced and professional members from Seadrill. I believe that this relationship will continue to get better as both companies intend to be major players in this industry for years to come.”
West Prospero has already won a one-year charter agreement with ExxonMobil in West Malaysia.
Listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange, Seadrill is an international offshore drilling contractor providing services within drilling and well services. The company has 36 drilling units, of which 16 are under construction. Its fleet includes harsh-environment semisubmersibles, jackups, shallow and deepwater tender rigs and deepwater drillships. Seadrill also provides platform drilling, well intervention and engineering services. The company has some 5,000 employees, operating in 14 countries on four continents.
Keppel FELS is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Corporation, through Keppel O&M, a leader in offshore rigs, shiprepair and conversion and specialised shipbuilding. Keppel O&M’s near market, near customer strategy is bolstered by a global network of 20 yards in the Asia Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, Brazil, the Caspian Sea, Middle East and the North Sea regions. Integrating the experience and expertise of its yards worldwide, the group aims to be the provider of choice and partner in solutions for the offshore and marine industry.
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