South Korea: Noble Energy Reaches Agreement for Newbuild UDW Drillship

Noble Energy, Inc. has entered into a 36 month contract with a subsidiary of Atwood Oceanics Inc. for a newbuild drillship to support its global new ventures efforts in deepwater exploration and development. The drillship Atwood Advantage is currently under construction by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd. in South Korea.

The ATWOOD ADVANTAGE is a DP3 Drillship capable of operating in 3,658 meters (12,000 ft.) of water, drilling depths of up to 12,200 m (40,000 ft.) and has accommodations for 200 personnel. The main load path has a 1,250 ton top drive, a 1,250 ton crown mounted compensator and a 1,250 ton drawworks; the derrick is rated to 2,500,000 lbs. The unit has four (4) mud pumps 2,200 HP/7,500 psi. and the BOP is rated to 15k psi which includes two (2) annulars and seven (7) rams and has upgraded capabilities for shearing and subsea intervention. Also, the rigs are fitted with three (3) X 100 MT Knuckle Boom Cranes and one (1) X 165 MT Heave Compensated Knuckle Boom Crane with 10,000 ft. wire for Tree Handling over the side.

PRINCIPAL DIMENSIONS

Length / 780 ft (238 m)

Beam / 137 ft (42 m)

Baseline to Main Deck / 62 ft (19 m)

Baseline to Pipe Rack / 123 ft (37.5 m)

Baseline to Drill Floor / 142 ft (43.5 m)

The rig’s advanced capabilities are sufficient to reach the deep oil target in the Eastern Mediterranean, which will be the first exploration prospect drilled.

[mappress]

Shipbuilding Tribune Staff, September 27, 2012; Image: atwd