Rowan opts for a fourth UDW drillship at Hyundai

SEPTEMBER 10, 2012—Rowan Companies plc, Houston, TX, said it has exercised its option to build a fourth GustoMSC P10,000 design ultra-deepwater drillship at South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. with delivery scheduled in March 2015. Projected equipment cost and labor price increases will push the cost of the rig to $620 million, which includes its commissioning, project management and spares. This is about 6 percent higher than the previous three ultra-depwater drillships of the same class.

Rowan plans to equip its drillships with 2,000 feet of additional riser to enable operations in water depths up to 12,000 feet upon delivery.  Each drillship will also be equipped with a second BOP for minimizing non-productive time.

Rowan will also incur operational training and personnel ramp-up costs in readying the drillships to commence well operations.  Expected costs for the additional riser, BOP and training and ramp-up costs will be $75 million.

The agreement with HHI also includes an option for a similar fifth drillship exercisable in the fourth quarter of 2012, for delivery in the third quarter of 2015.

Rowan President and CEO Matt Ralls, says, “The recent three-year contract obtained for our first drillship, the Rowan Renaissance, and strong customer enthusiasm for Rowan’s history of operational excellence, high-specification drillship design and experienced deepwater team, reaffirms our confidence in our expansion into the ultra-deepwater market.”

Steel was cut for the Rowan Renaissance in July 2012 and the drillship is expected to be delivered in late 2013.  The second and third drillships are expected to be delivered in the second and fourth quarters of 2014, respectively.