Chevron starts work with new drillship

Aug. 14, 2009
Chevron USA Inc. has begun work with Transocean Inc.’s Discoverer Clear Leader ultradeepwater drillship in the Gulf of Mexico.

By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Aug. 14
-- Chevron USA Inc. has begun work with Transocean Inc.’s Discoverer Clear Leader ultradeepwater drillship in the Gulf of Mexico.

Chevron is using the specially built vessel under a 5-year contract with Transocean on projects including Tahiti and Jack/St. Malo fields.

Transocean technology enables the drillship to conduct parallel drilling operations from a single derrick. The ship can drill to 40,000 ft in as much as 12,000 ft of water (OGJ, Mar. 6, 2006, Newsletter).

The drilling contractor will commission a second drillship for Chevron, the Discoverer Inspiration, early next year.

The vessels are among five ultradeepwater enhanced Enterprise-class drillships that Transocean plans to commission this year and next. Others, all under contract, are Discoverer Americas, Discoverer India, and Discoverer Luanda.

The double-hull, dynamically positioned Discoverer Clear Leader is 835 ft long, 125 ft wide, and a 62 ft deep and has an operating draft of 42 ft. Its moonpool measures 72.5 ft by 30 ft.

The 226-ft dual-activity derrick measures 80 ft by 80 ft at the base and 20 ft by 60 ft at the top.

The ship can work in winds up to 60 knots and waves as high as 30 ft.

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. Ltd. built the ship at Okpo, South Korea.