Sunday, February 3, 2013

One of the workhorses in GOM offshore

In 2011, LeTourneau Technologies announced it has entered into a contract to furnish a kit and license to Lamprell Energy, Ltd. ("Lamprell") for the construction of Lamprell's sixth Super 116E class self-elevating Mobile Offshore Drilling Platform ("jack-up"). This rig will be outfitted with 477 feet of leg designed to operate in water depths of up to 350 feet and will have a 1.5 million pound hook load for a rated drilling depth of 30,000 feet.

The rig will be built at Lamprell's Hamriyah facility located in the United Arab Emirates for Greatship Global Energy Services of Singapore. Rig delivery is expected in the fourth quarter 2012. Lamprell currently has three additional Super 116E class jack-ups under construction under license from LeTourneau. These transactions demonstrate LeTourneau's strong commitment for international growth through the supply of state-of-the-art rig designs, rig kits, and drilling equipment.

LeTourneau's delivery of the kit, which includes the rig's leg components, jacking system, cranes and certain other components, will occur in stages in accordance with the rig construction schedule. The initial delivery is expected to occur in the third quarter of 2011 and the final delivery during the second quarter of 2012.

This marks the 25th order for the LeTourneau Super 116 series of jack-ups, of which 8 others are currently under construction. The Super 116E is one of four current LeTourneau jackup rig designs and an evolution of the industry's original workhorse, the LeTourneau 116-C design. The Super 116E provides over 3,000 kips greater payload than its predecessor along with the enhanced cantilever package offering 70 ft reach and 2,650 kip drill load capacity. The rig is designed to drill in up to 350 feet of water in moderate environmental locations and can be outfitted to handle high temperature/high pressure wells.

LeTourneau built the world's first jack-up drilling rig in 1955 and is an acknowledged leader in the supply of offshore jack-up drilling rigs today. LeTourneau has designed and been involved in the construction of approximately one-third of all jack-up rigs in service.

LeTourneau's vision is to be recognized by our customers as designing, building and supporting the most innovative, capable and reliable equipment for developing the world's natural resources.

Two years on, in DUBAI, January 2013, Lamprell has delivered the newbuild jackup Greatdrill Chaaya to Greatship Global Energy Services.

Work was completed 18 months after initial steel cutting and within budget. The rig left Lamprell’s Hamriyah facility last week for a drilling location offshore India, where it is contracted to ONGC.

Greatdrill Chaaya, weighing 10,394 metric tons (11,457 tons) at delivery, is a LeTourneau Super 116E (Enhanced) design with a self-elevating 477-ft (145-m) leg system.

Lamprell modified the spud can design in order to reduce the soil bearing pressure expected at the offshore location.

The company has now completed construction of 12 newbuild jackups, five of the LeTourneau Super 116 E design and seven of the Friede & Goldman Super M2 design. The company has seven more LeTourneau rigs undergoing various stages of construction.