Keppel FELS Wins $130M Rig Order

Inking the deal for the second Gulf Drilling rig: (From left) Mr Nobuo Makabe, Deputy Managing Director/General Manager of Gulf Drilling International; Mr Yousif Rashid Al Khater, Managing Director of Gulf Drilling International; Mr Tong Chong Heong, Managing Director/Chief Operating Officer of Keppel Offshore & Marine; and Mr Michael Chia, Executive Director of Keppel FELS.

Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS) won a contract to build a $130 million jackup for Gulf Drilling International Ltd. (q.s.c.) (GDI).

The jackup, to be named GULF-5, will be delivered by end 2007. This is GDI’s second jackup with Keppel FELS and follows shortly after the first rig, GULF-4, was signed in December 2004. GULF-4, whose keel was laid this morning at the Keppel FELS yard, is due for delivery end 2006. Both GULF-4 and GULF-5 are of Keppel’s proprietary KFELS B class design, and suitable for operation in the Arabian Gulf and Indian waters. When completed, they will form GDI’s fleet of five rigs.

Mr Yousif R. Al-Khater, Managing Director of GDI, shared, “Keppel FELS is our choice partner as they have the tried and tested KFELS B class rigs that are operating successfully in different parts of the world. We are also impressed with their engineering capability and excellent execution of the Gulf-4 currently under construction at their yard.

“GDI is rapidly expanding our fleet of rigs to meet the good market opportunities and growing demand for exploration and production in the Gulf region. In the near future, we will also explore other business areas such as accommodation barges and drilling services.”

GDI is a 60/40 joint venture established in May 2004 by Qatar Petroleum and Japan Drilling Company. The Doha-based JV is acquiring used and newbuild rigs to meet the escalating demands for drilling rigs in Qatar and region.

The Arabian Gulf, known also as the Persian Gulf, is made up of seven countries - Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

With 715 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, the Arabian Gulf represents over half (57%) of the world's oil reserves. The region represents also 45% of the world total reserve with 2,462 Tcf of natural gas reserves.

According to the Energy Information Administration's International Energy Outlook 2003, oil production in the Persian Gulf is expected to reach about 26 million bbl/d by 2010, and 35 million bbl/d by 2020, compared to about 21.7 million bbl/d in 2000. This would increase Persian Gulf oil production capacity to 33% of the world total by 2020, up from 28% in 2000.