Keppel to Build Bully 2 Drillship, Contract Worth $101M

Keppel Shipyard Ltd. has been awarded a contract valued at about $101 million for the integration and completion of a new build "Bully" drillship. Keppel secured the contract with a company jointly owned by Frontier Drilling and Shell.

This is the second drillship of the "Bully" rig design awarded to Keppel by the same owners. The first "Bully" drillship was awarded in June 2007 with delivery by fourth quarter 2009.

The new hull will be built in China and is due to arrive at Keppel in the first quarter of 2009. The drillship is expected to be delivered by the second quarter of 2010.

"Owners continue to see value and viability in using Keppel to carry out the complex integration and completion of drillships and FPSOs utilising hulls built elsewhere," said Nelson Yeo, Keppel's executive director.

"We thank Frontier and Shell for their trust and confidence in Keppel Shipyard in awarding us the integration and completion phase of their first and now their second newbuild drillship, the Bully 2," Yeo said.

The "Bully" drillships are designed to conduct surface BOP (Blow-out Preventer) drilling operations in water depths of up to 12,000 ft and sub-sea BOP operations in water depths of up to 8,250 ft as equipped (up to 10,000 ft capability). The total drilling depth below the drill floor is 40,000 ft. The drillships will also be equipped with ice-class hulls and fitted with Dynamic Positioning (DP-2) capabilities.

Keppel's work scope for the Bully 2 includes installation, integration and completion of the owner supplied power generation, thrusters and drilling equipment packages on a new hull.

In addition to the Bully drillship contracts with Frontier and Shell, Keppel is currently working on the refurbishment and upgrading of drillship "Frontier Phoenix" (ex – Peregrine II) for Frontier due for delivery in the third quarter 2008.