Brazil's Petrobras Plans Tenders For 28 Drill Rigs In Sept
September 11 2009 - 4:02PM
Dow Jones News
Brazilian state-run energy giant Petrobras (PBR) will offer
tenders for 28 deepwater drill rigs this month, the company said in
a statement Friday.
The rigs, which will include drill ships and semi-submersibles,
are expected to be delivered between 2013 and 2018, Petrobras
said.
"The board of directors approved the strategy for construction
of 28 new drilling rigs to be built in Brazil, with increased
national content, to explore ultra-deepwaters including fields
located in the subsalt," Petrobras said.
A value for the tenders was not divulged. Brazil's government,
however, has pledged 4 billion Brazilian reals ($2.2 billion) in
financing to guarantee construction of the rigs, Petrobras
said.
The first phase of the tender will be for a minimum lot of nine
rigs, including at least seven drill ships. A single shipyard will
win the tender, Petrobras said, in order to make the necessary
investments to fulfill the order and make it economically
feasible.
The subsalt finds were made under a thick layer of salt in the
Santos Basin off the coast of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro states.
The oil lies under more than 2,000 meters of water and a further
5,000 meters under sand, rock and a shifting layer of salt.
-By Jeff Fick, Dow Jones Newswires; 55-21-2586-6085;
jeff.fick@dowjones.com