By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Oct. 4 -- BHP Billiton Petroleum (Americas) Inc., part of the Melbourne, Australia, conglomerate, awarded a 2-year drilling contract valued at $157 million to GlobalSantaFe Corp.'s newbuild ultradeepwater semisubmersible rig, Development Driller I, for work in the US Gulf of Mexico.
The multiwell exploration and development program is expected to commence in April 2005.
The rig is optimized for development drilling and subsea completion projects. Its design includes 18,000 sq ft of usable deck space and more than 7,000 tonnes of variable deck load. The rig's dynamic positioning and self-contained mooring systems can be supplemented with as many as eight additional mooring lines for increased flexibility in varying conditions.
