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中集来福士协作方Grenland获海油4号平台设计合同,赢取建造合同概率增
COSL has signed a letter of intent with Grenland, but is yet to finalise the contract, sources said.
Sources added that Grenland teamed up with CIMC Raffles in the design race, in which three Scandinavian engineering houses took part — KBR’s Sweden-based unit GVA, and Norwegian design houses BassTech and Moss Maritime.
The newbuild semi, called COSL 4 or COSL Target, will be a sister rig of other three rigs —COSL Pioneer, COSL Innovator and COSL Promoter — all of which were built at CIMC Raffles’ yard in Yantai city, Shandong.
COSL is expected to confirm the award over the next week or two, and this will be followed by a construction tender, expected to hit the market in July, sources said.
Sources said Grenland was well placed compared to the other competitors as it already has a presence in China and it helped COSL to improve the design of COSL Pioneer by adding extra blisters and sponsons to provide required additional buoyancy.
Sources said the construction bid, delayed twice due to uncertain market conditions, will be open only for China’s domestic yards.
Those yards already expressing interest in the project include Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Offshore Company Ltd (DSIC Offshore), Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipyard (SWS), CIMC Raffles and Cosco Shipyard.
The COSL Target will be similar to COSL Pioneer, COSL Innovator and COSL Promoter, but will have deeper working water depth of 1500 metres.
Logistically, DSIC Offshore could have an edge because a drilling equipment package COSL bought from National Oilwell Varco is currently mothballed at its yard in Dalian.
Three years ago, DSIC Offshore offered to mothball the drilling package in Dalian for free in an effort to help win favour when the tender documents emerge.
Sources said an award to DSIC Offshore could also save on costs by lowering mobilisation expenses. Nevertheless, SWS remains confident of securing the order, having built a similar unit for COSL’s parent company China National Offshore Oil Corporation.
SWS is scheduled to deliver to CNOOC a 6 billion yuan ($900 million) semisub capable of drilling in up to 3050 metres of water and to a well depth of 10,000 metres.
CIMC Raffles is equally confident of its prospects, having just delivered COSL Pioneer to COSL, and being due to deliver the two sister rigs next year.
22 April 2011 15:55 GMT |
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