Advanced jack up rig breaking U.S. construction drought
- Rowan Companies Inc., Houston, TX (United States)
A new heavy duty jack up, due in mid-1998, will be able to simultaneously drill and produce wells in harsher environments and deeper water than current jack ups in the worldwide fleet. Rowan Cos. Inc.`s Gorilla V is the only mobile offshore drilling unit (MODU) currently under construction in the US. Two more enhanced Gorilla design rigs are planned before the year 2000. The enhanced Gorilla class jack up represents the most technologically advanced jack up unit constructed to date. The rigs are structurally designed to meet year-round weather challenges in the harshest geographical environments. Rising demand for drilling rigs, coupled with a dwindling fleet, is generating supply shortages around the world, particularly at the high-specification end of the market. Even increasing the historical retirement age from 20 to 25 years, rig attrition continues at a level of about 18 rigs per year. Apart from the jack up market per se, however, Rowan`s strategy in designing and building enhanced Gorillas is to improve existing jack up drilling technology and offer the versatility to operate as a drilling unit, a mobile production unit, or both simultaneously in either open water locations or alongside existing platforms. The paper discusses the market for these heavy jack-ups, the use of one on the Cohasset project in Nova Scotia, the Gorilla V and enhanced Gorillas, geographical range of use, and MOPU economics.
- OSTI ID:
- 449628
- Journal Information:
- Oil and Gas Journal, Vol. 95, Issue 10; Other Information: PBD: 10 Mar 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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