Rowan scored its first breakthrough when its LeTourneau 240C-design Gorilla VI secured a contract to drill one well earlier this year for UK operator BG Group in the southern part of the Norwegian North Sea.

However, Rowan’s executive vice president for drilling ­oper­ations David Russell said the US contractor, which operates 48% of the world’s high-specification jack-up drilling units, had not previously built any rigs with the specific intent to be fully com­pliant with Norway’s stringent offshore operating standards before its acquisition of the Skeie units.

Rowan