Sete Brasil Secures $3.7 B Loan to Finance Construction of Nine Offshore Rigs

The Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES)  has approved long-term financing in the amount of USD 3.7 billion (R$8.8 billion) to Sete Brasil.

 Sete Secures $3.7 B Loan to Finance Construction of Nine Offshore Rigs

Sete Brasil will use the cash to finance the construction of nine offshore drilling rigs, seven of which will be drillships and two semi-submersibles. The rigs are being built in five Brazilian shipyards. The first rig is expected to be delivered in 2015.

Sete Brasil is Brazil’s largest offshore drilling contractor, with a contracted fleet of 29 units which, when they are all in operation, will generate about 10,000 direct jobs aboard their facilities.

Brazil’s state-run oil company Petrobras will use the rigs for exploration in the pre-salt offshore areas. The expression “pre-salt” makes reference to an aggregation of rocks located offshore in a large portion of the Brazilian coast and with potential to accumulate oil.

It was called pre-salt because it forms a rock interval that ranges under an extensive layer of salt which, in certain areas of the coast, can be as much as 2,000 meters thick. The “pre” expression is used because, through time, these rocks were deposited before the salt layer. The total depth of these rocks, i.e., the distance between the surface of the sea and the oil reservoirs under the salt layer, can be as much as 7,000 meters.

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Offshore Energy Today Staff, January 17, 2014