Yantai CIMC Raffles Offshore (CIMC Raffles) has won an order for two jackups from newcomer Central Shipping Monaco (CSM). The two rigs will be Friede & Goldman JU2000E design and scheduled to be delivered at the end of 2015. CSM also…
Fairmount Marine has delivered the drilling rig ENSCO 5004 in Malta at the endof a voyage that began offshore Rio de Janeiro.ENSCO 5004 is a 1982- built, 94.7m-long, and 70.4m-wide semisubmersible. It was towed from Rio de Janeiro to Malta…
Rising requirements for rigs in the Middle East is increasing competition for jackup refurbishment and conversion. Elaine Maslin reports. About quarter of the world’s 480-strong jackup drilling rig fleet resides in the Persian Gulf and…
The COSLGift, an independent leg cantilever jackup rig, has been delivered, and is enroute to Southeast Asia, China Oilfield Services Ltd. (COSL) announced. COSL acquired the COSLGift and its sister rig COSLHunter (pictured) in August 2013…
Baker Hughes Inc. rotary rig count shows 61 rigs active offshore US for the last two weeks, up 10 rigs from a year ago (19.6% year-over-year increase). This includes 55 rigs working off Louisiana (up from 47 a year ago), 2 rigs off Texas (up from 1 rig)…
Lundin Petroleum AB has started drilling the latest appraisal well at the giant Johan Sverdrup discovery, in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. The well,16/3-8S, on PL501, is at the crest of the Avaldsnes high. Its objectives are to establish the depth…
Tullow Oil plc's Mantra well, offshore Norway, is to be plugged and abandoned after being classified as water wet. Mantra, drilled with the 31/3-4 wildcat exploration well,was the first exploration well in the Tullow-operated 551 production license…
BP Norway has extended its contract for the jack-up Maersk Reacher by two years, from September 2014 to September 2016. BP Norway holds options to further extend the contract by up to additional four years, taking it out to September 2020…
Kosmos Energy Ltd. signed a one well rig share agreement with BP plc and Maersk Drilling for use of the rig Maersk Discoverer. The rig is expected to commence drilling operations on the FA-1 (formally Eagle-1) exploration well in the Foum Assaka offshore block in Morocco in 1H 2014…
Singapore-based Keppel FELS Ltd. has delivered ARABDRILL 60, a KFELS B Class jackup rig, to Arabian Drilling Co. (ADC), five days ahead of schedule, on budget, and with a perfect safety record. This marks the 21st newbuild offshore rig that Keppel FELS has delivered in 2013…
Ensco plc has taken delivery of ENSCO 121, the second of four ultra-premium harsh environment jackup rigs in its ENSCO 120 Series. The rig is contracted to work in the North Sea beginning in Q2 2014 at a day rate of approximately $230,000…
GSP Offshore has said its jackup, the GSP Saturn, will provide offshore drilling services in Pechora Sea, in the south eastern part of the Barents Sea, on the Russian continental shelf. GSP Saturn will carry out operations under a two year contract…
Chevron North Sea Limited has awarded a £150 million contract to Dolphin Drilling Limited, a subsidiary of Fred. Olsen Energy ASA, for a 20-month multi-well drilling and completion program, across several of its operations in the UK North Sea…
Deepwater drilling rig contractors are facing an uncertain future, with an increasingly fragmented market favoring those who contract the vessels, according to an analyst. The comments follow market updates from rig operators including Transocean Ltd…
BG Group has said its latest drilling campaign offshore Tanzania has increased its resource base across its three Tanzanian blocks to 15Tcf natural gas. BG Group said Blocks 1, 3 and 4, which it operates, with partner Ophir Energy, also had further exploration upside…