Mexican drilling contractor Integradora de Servicios Petroleros Oro Negro will soon deliver its fourth newbuild jackup to Pemex.
The Decus was named last week at Sembcorp Marine's PPL Shipyard and will sail from Singapore next week for a 3+ year charter with Pemex. It's the second of six Robray Offshore PPL Pacific Class 400 jackups that Oro Negro has ordered from Sembcorp.
Oro Negro's first PPL-built jackup, Fortius, was delivered in late 2013, and is ready-stacked in Mexico.
Oro Negro chief executive Gonzalo Gil said that the company switched to PPL Shipyard after building its first two jackups at Keppel FELS because PPL could offer earlier delivery dates. The first two PPL jackups cost US$434million.
A relative newcomer, Oro Negro was capitalized in February 2012 with US$250million equity from Temasek Holdings (Singapore government, $100 million), Ares Management ($10 0million), individual investors ($30 million), and a sponsor group ($20 million). Oro Negro completed its $36 million acquisition of TODCO Mexico Inc. in August 2012, which included one platform drilling rig and 30 employees.
Starting with jackups as the "doorstep to the drilling market," Oro Negro told investors at a Pareto Securities conference that it could expand to tender rigs, semisubmersibles, and drillships.
The company paid $216 million for each of its first two jackups, delivered from Keppel FELS in December 2012 (Laurus) and May 2013 (Primus). These Mod V-B class jackups are rated to work in 400ft water depth.
Keppel FELS built eight other B Class jackups for work in Mexico in 2013: two for PEMEX, four for Grupo R, and two for CP Latina. Keppel AmFELS in Brownsville, Texas delivered a jackup rig to Perforadora Central in April 2013 and will deliver a second rig in 1Q 2014.
All three of Oro Negro's working jackups have been classed by ABS and are flagged in Panama.
Subscribe
