Keppel Fels to build $285m rig for Vietnam firm

Keppel Fels to build $285m rig for Vietnam firm 
 
KEPPEL Offshore and Marine yesterday announced that its unit will build a jack-up drilling rig worth US$205 million (S$285 million) for a subsidiary of a Vietnamese firm.
It will be the third rig the unit Keppel Fels will build for the company. It is scheduled to be delivered in the fourth quarter of next year. This is an extremely early delivery date in a tight market where orders can typically be delivered in three years’ time.

Keppel Fels is offering to deliver the rig to the subsidiary of PetroVietnam Drilling & Well Services early because it is a ‘premium customer’, said a spokesman.

PetroVietnam chief executive Do Van Khanh said in a statement that the company wants to position itself to capture the market for specialised oil and gas services. ‘It is estimated that there will be 900 exploration wells in Vietnam over the next 15 years,’ he noted.

He added that after working with Keppel Fels on several projects, PetroVietnam has found the company a ’strong and reliable’ partner that ‘can deliver projects punctually, within budget and without incidents’.

PetroVietnam intends to make capital investments of about 27.4 trillion dong (S$2.43 billion) from now until 2015 to build and operate a fleet of 11 offshore and onshore rigs.

Keppel Fels said the deal is not expected to have any material impact on the earnings per share of parent company Keppel Corp for this financial year.

Source : Straits Times   - 06 March 2008

Singapore Property - Buy , Sell , Rent , Invest

Mindy Yong

(+65)91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com

Microsoft launches BizSpark to boost technology start-ups »« Singapore’s biggest employer still hiring