Drilling/Production news briefs, Nov. 29

Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc., Houston, has awarded contracts worth $77 million to Keppel FELS Ltd., Singapore, to upgrade semisubmersible Ocean Rover and jack up Ocean Tower. In July, Diamond Offshore awarded Keppel FELS a $34 million contract to upgrade four jack ups. The Ocean Rover work will take place in Singapore and the Ocean Tower work at KFELS' Amfels yard in Brownsville, Tex.

Ocean Rig ASA said its semisubmersible rig Leiv Eiriksson is being moved to West Africa, where it will work for units of ExxonMobil Corp. and BP PLC. Drilling will begin in December or January.

Kerr-McGee Corp.'s UK unit has extended its contract for Fred. Olsen Energy ASA's Bredford Dolphin semisubmersible by 30 days to drill one more well. After that is completed, the rig will begin a two-well contract off Tunisia for with Nimir Petroleum Co. North Africa Ltd. The deals are worth a combined $8.8 million.

A subsidiary of ChevronTexaco Corp. has notified ENSCO International Inc., Dallas, of its intent to terminate early a contract for barge drilling rig ENSCO III, which was working in Venezuela. ENSCO will receive $13.5 million in revenue, the value the company would have earned over the remaining contract term.