Even as the world’s drilling activity trends downward, new offshore rigs continue to enter the market. One of the latest entrants is the Deep Driller 8 jack up (photo).
The rig is the last in a series of five KFELS Super B Class cantilevered jack up drilling units built by Keppel FELS Ltd. for Aban Singapore Pte. Ltd. since 2006.
Keppel FELS says the Super B Class design is one of the world’s deepest drilling rigs, with capabilities for drilling high pressure, high-temperature wells up to 35,000 ft in 350 ft of water.
Hull dimensions are 246-ft length, 218-ft width, and 25-ft depth. The legs have a 486-ft length, and the rig’s air gap is 50 ft.
Other design parameters include a 1,000-ton hook load, 1,000-ton rotary capacity, 5,586-ton variable load, and 1,350-ton maximum combined cantilever load.
The drawworks on the rig is a National Oilwell Varco Model SSDG-4600-57, with 4 x 1,150-hp ac electric motors and regenerative braking. The rig has a National Oilwell Varco Model HPS-1000-2E-AC-KT, 2-million lb capacity top drive and three National Oilwell Varco Model 14-P-220 triplex mud pumps.
According to Jefferies & Co. Inc.’s November 2008 Offshore Drilling Monthly, the rig’s estimated cost was $140 million, and the rig has a 5-month, $200,000/day contract with Hidustan Oil Exploration Co. Ltd. for work off India.
Keppel FELS is a unit of Keppel Corp. Ltd. and specializes in offshore rigs, ship repair and conversion, and specialized shipbuilding.
Aban Singapore Pte. Ltd. is a unit of Aban Offshore Ltd., which is India’s largest drilling contractor in the private sector.