Seadrill orders two new jackups

Seadrill has exercised fixed price options for the construction of two high specification jack-up drilling rigs at Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Offshore Co., Ltd. (DSIC Offshore) in China. The rigs are scheduled for delivery during the third and fourth quarter of 2015, and the estimated total project price is approximately US$230 million (including project management, capitalized interest, drilling and handling tools, spares and operation preparations) per rig, with tail-heavy payment terms.

The two new units will be based on the F&G JU2000E design, with water depth capacity of 400ft and drilling depth of 30,000ft. Seadrill has now in total six jack-ups under construction at DSIC Offshore of which two are scheduled for delivery in 2013 and four in 2015.

Fredrik Halvorsen, Chief Executive Officer of Seadrill Management Ltd, says in a comment, "The two jack-up newbuilds are ordered in-line with our customers preference for high specification jack-up drilling rigs and a strengthening jack-up drilling market. We continue to see solid demand for this asset class with both dayrates and contract duration increasing. These two new orders will increase Seadrill's jack-up fleet to 28 units and strengthen our position as the largest operator of modern high specification drilling units."