Due to an extremely tight deepwater market, West African operators are now tendering for deepwater projects scheduled to commence in 2007 and later. Scarce jackup availability will also pose a problem for operators, especially as demand is likely to outstrip supply by three to four units by mid-2006. NIGERIA: Total issued a tender for two deepwater units for additional drilling work on the Akpo development on Nigeria's Block OPL 246. The tender requests two units for 24 months apiece commencing in a window from September 1, 2007, to February 1, 2009. Package A is for a DP 1,500 msw (4,921 fsw)-capable unit and Package B for a 2,000 msw (6,562 fsw)-capable rig. Two deepwater drillships have already been chartered for work on Akpo; Transocean drillship Deepwater Discovery will commence a two-year program from fourth quarter 2006, and GlobalSantaFe drillship GSF Jack Ryan will start a two-year plus one year option contract from around March 2007.
展开▼
