The contract comprises the complete delivery of the two biggest and most advanced drilling rigs in the world. The engineering will be carried out at the Aker Kvaerner's engineering office at Lysaker and Aker Kvaerner MH's office in Kristiansand, Norway. The assembly and commissioning will be done at Aker Kvaerner's yard at Stord, Norway. Hull construction will be handled by Aker Kvaerner's yard at Verdal with a combination of subcontracting and fabrication at own yard. The rigs will be equipped with Aker Kvaerner's state-of-the-art Dual RamRig® drilling equipment. Aker Yards, Brevik, will perform the hull design. Several other sub-contracts will be placed over the next few weeks.

Executive vice president in Aker Kvaerner, Simen Lieungh, says, "Aker Kvaerner holds both yard and engineering competence and capacity, in addition we own the rig concept. These factors should prove extremely valuable for the successful delivery of the two rigs".

Aker Kvaerner has delivered 37 semi-submersibles of the H-3 and H-4 design which is the world's most proven rig design and have for 30 years demonstrated excellent performance on the seven seas. The new H-6e design is intended both for world-wide deepwater operations and harsh environment. In addition to the drilling rigs, Aker Kvaerner has delivered some of the most advanced and sophisticated production semi-submersibles in the world, the Kristin platform being the most recent example.

"We intend to utilize the recent Kristin experience for the drilling rig project", says Simen Lieungh. Kristin is a semi-submersible production platform for Statoil which was completed in March/April 2005 at the Stord yard. "Kristin was delivered fully completed inshore and on time. We plan to repeat this accomplishment on the H-6e drilling rigs", concludes Lieungh.

Contract partner to Aker Drilling is Aker Kvaerner Stord. The contract is dependent on the successful financing of Aker Drilling and board approval in Aker ASA and Aker Kvaerner.

ENDS

 

Media:
Stein Inge Liasjø, VP Communications, Aker Kvaerner. Tel: +47 67 51 30 94,
Mob: +47 464 02 353

Investor relations:
Lasse Torkildsen, VP Investor Relations, Aker Kvaerner. Tel: +47 67 51 30 39

 

The new H-6e is an enhancement of the existing Aker H-4.2 column floater with transverse truss arrangement between eight columns. The design has its roots in the well known Aker H-3. A total of 37 units of the H-3/H-4 design are delivered and have for 30 years demonstrated excellent performance on the seven seas. The H-6e is intended both for world-wide deepwater operations and harsh environment. It is configured for dynamic positioning to 3000 m water depth.

 

Large payload and storage capacity

Excellent and proven motion characteristics

High drilling and completion efficiency

Double RamRig®

Vertical riser and casing racking

Independent handling of BOP and X-mas trees

Maximum parallel activities

Large working space for safe and efficient operations

Protected working and storage areas

Large bed capacity

Low emissions to the environment

Real time remote operation and diagnostic capabilities

Prepared for installation of 8 point mooring system

Fully winterized

 

 

AKER KVÆRNER ASA, through its subsidiaries and affiliates ("Aker Kvaerner"), is a leading global provider of engineering and construction services, technology products and integrated solutions. The business within Aker Kvaerner comprises several industries, including Oil & Gas, Refining & Chemicals, Mining & Metals, Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology, Power Generation and Pulp & Paper. The Aker Kvaerner group is organised into two principal business streams, namely Oil & Gas and E&C, each consisting of a number of separate legal entities. Aker Kvaerner is used as the common brand/trademark for most of these entities. The parent company in the group is Aker Kværner ASA. Aker Kvaerner has aggregated annual revenues of approximately NOK 35.6 billion and employs approximately 22,000 people in more than 30 countries.

This press release may include forward-looking information or statements and is subject to our disclaimer, see our web-pages www.akerkvaerner.com.