14 DAY TRIAL // This past Monday, Dubai-based group Drydocks World went public with the news that it had landed a $730 million (€533.9 million) deal to build a massive rig meant to operate in the North Sea.
In a press release on the matter at hand issued this past January 14, the group details that the rig its shipbuilding and offshore engineering specialists are expected to piece together will be the world's largest destined for said region.
The order for this project was submitted by company Drill One Capital, whose backers include GustoMSC and Petrolia, the press release says.
The rig that Drydocks World has been commissioned to build has been designed in such ways that it will be able to operate in harsh environmental conditions and in waters of a significant depth.
“Gusto MSC which is one of our major partners in this project has designed the CJ 80 rig and the rig will be the first of this design to be built and will be the largest Jack-up rig ever built,” Drydocks World writes on its website.
“Designed to be operated in harsh environments including the Norwegian Sector of the North Sea at a maximum water-depth of 175 meter [roughly 574 feet] with 25 meter [about 82 feet] air-gap, the rig is another ground-breaking project among the growing portfolio of new build projects for the offshore oil & gas being implemented by Drydocks World,” it adds.
Work on this project is expected to be completed by the year 2017. Once up and running, the facility will accommodate for up to 160 people at a time, and the equipment it will be fitted with will allow it to drill at depths of 1,220 meters (approximately 40,000 feet).
Interestingly enough, Drydocks World maintains that the rig will be surprisingly environmentally friendly.
Thus, innovative technologies will allow it to use some 30% less fuel, and it will have LED lighting installed wherever this is possible.
What's more, it will generate fresh water using waste heat resulting from engine cooling, and it will produce roughly 25% emissions when compared to similar facilities.
The order for this rig is included in a contract package whose overall value is one of 1.4 billion (€1.02 billion), Drydocks adds in its press release.