Honghua orders semi-submersible drilling rig

Honghua Offshore Oil & Gas Equipment (Jiangsu) CO., Ltd, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Honghua Group Ltd, a leading global land drilling rig manufacturer, has entered into a legally binding Letter of Award (LOA) with Orion Engineering and Management Limited for the construction of one European-designed semi-submersible drilling rig.

US$ 320 million drilling rig

The LOA is subsequent to an earlier shipbuilding agreement worth over US$ 200 million with UDIN Engineering Co., Ltd, a Korean offshore engineering company. According to the terms and provisions of the LOA, Orion plans to purchase the rig for a total consideration of approximately US$ 320 million (excluding owner-furnished equipment), representing 24.5% of the company’s total revenue as of 31 December 2013.

According to the LOA, the sales and purchase agreement is expected to be executed within 60 days. At the same time, Orion has the option to purchase an additional three rig units with the same specification of the rig from Honghua Offshore under the same conditions each respectively at an interval of six months. The rig and option units under the LOA will be equipped with the company’s in-house design and manufacture drilling package.

Rigs to meet international offshore exploration and production sector standards

Meanwhile, Orion will contract a subsidiary of Opus Offshore Ltd to supervise the construction of the rig according to the latest regulations and highest quality standards in place within the international offshore exploration and production sector. This will enable the company to become a world class supplier in the global offshore drilling market.

Mr. Zhang Mi, Chairman of Honghua commented, "We have always been emphasizsing that Honghua must be innovative and develop its self-developed core equipment in offshore engineering sector. Signing the LOA symbolised that the company has started a new chapter of its manufacturing business, and successfully entered into the offshore drilling equipment market. We believe that it demonstrates client and the market’s recognition on the company’s equipment design and construction capability. Meanwhile, the construction of a series of semi-submersible drilling rigs will capitalise on the strengths of the extraordinary capability of Honghai Crane to fully achieve the innovative concept of ‘onshore manufacturing of offshore equipment’, thus reducing contruction cost and production cycle time. The company will continue to develop the offshore engineering business, continuously deepen the global business distribution, to provide inexhaustible momentum for the sustaining and stable development of the group’s business."

Adapted from press release by Cecilia Rehn

Read the article online at: https://www.oilfieldtechnology.com/drilling-and-production/19082014/honghua-offshore-orders-european-designed-semi-submersible-drilling-rig-from-orion/