12 Apr 2007
Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi based Gulf Piping Company (GPC), one of the leading fabricators in the oil and gas sector, has won a $359 million (Dh1.3 billion) contract for the fabrication of three semi-submersible drilling rigs.
Company dfficials told Gulf News that GPC client is Atlantia Offshore Limited a fully owned subsidiary of SBM Offshore N.V.
The units will be built according to the GustoMSC TDS2000 design, already proven through existing drilling rigs operating worldwide.
The units will be able to operate in water depths up to, either 2,000 or 2,400 meters at client's option, and be capable of drilling up to 7,500 metres below the seabed.
They will feature state of the art drilling equipment and dynamically positioning systems.
The units are scheduled for delivery in January 2009 for the first rig, up to April 2010 for the Third rig. GPC is constructing an 84 x 125 - 10 metres deep Dry Dock in which these units will be Fabricated & Assembled.
With the award of this contract GPC is now on the worldwide list of Semi Submersible drilling rig manufacturers.
By Mohammad Ezz Al Deen
Gulf News 2007. All rights reserved.
