Vietnam: plans to boost its rig fleet
PV Drilling set for fleet expansion
PetroVietnam Drilling & Well Services Corporation (PV Drilling) plans to invest $1.7 billion until 2025 to build and operate an 11-strong fleet of rigs, including five land rigs and six offshore rigs.
The expansion of the rig fleet will support exploration drilling in Vietnam. Some 900 exploration wells will be drilled over the next 15 years, with Chevron accounting for half of that number, according to Vietnam Oil and Gas Group’s vice president, Do Van Hau.
Around 20 to 30 exploration wells will be drilled every year, Hau said.
Fifteen rigs are now drilling offshore Vietnam, including 11 mobile drilling units and four stationary rigs working on Vietsovpetro’s offshore structures, according to Hau.
PV Drilling now owns and operates three jack-ups, two are due for delivery from Singapore’s KeppelFels by mid-November.
Construction on the first unit, PV Drilling II, is expected to be completed as early as the end of next week, KeppelFels chief executive Tong Chong Heong said at the naming ceremony of the twins.
Delivery of the second rig, PV Drilling III will follow in mid-November, about one and a half months earlier than the contracted date, according to Tong.
Both rigs are built to Keppel’s proprietary KFELS B Class design. Keppel has delivered 28 such rigs since 2000, excluding the two PV Drilling units.
PV Drilling III is destined to begin a five-year contract with Vietsovpetro in the Bach Ho field, according to PV Drilling’s chief Do Van Kanh.
The jack-up is expected to conduct mostly exploration drilling in Bach Ho. The rig will take less than two weeks to reach Vietnam after departing from Singapore.
The day rate is pegged between $130,000 to $140,000 and will be adjusted on renewal every year, he said.
Its sister rig, PV Drilling II is contracted for a one-well campaign, Kanh said. Talks are underway for a two-year charter on the new jack-up.
PV Drilling now owns three jack-ups. The first unit, PV Drilling I has an ongoing contract until next August and a new charter is being negotiated, he said.
Kanh said PV Drilling is still keen on a semi-submersible rig, although plans are still being drawn up.
The Vietnamese outfit has called for bids earlier this year for the construction of a semi-submersible drilling tender similar to the 2006-built West Berani delivered from KeppelFels.