Seadrill, Heirs Holdings Launch New Deepwater Drill Ship

Obinna Chima

Heirs Holdings, Seadrill and Total Upstream Nigeria have launched a new deepwater drill ship named West Jupiter.
The sail away ceremony of the new ship in Goje , South Korea , was witnessed by Chairman of Seadrill, Mr. Tony Elumelu, officials of Samsung Heavy Industries, Total Upstream Nigeria and the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board.

The submersible deep-water drilling rig, built by Samsung Heavy Industries for Seadrill Nigeria, has the capacity to operate under 12,000 feet of water.

It was built for Total’s Egina Oil and Gas deep offshore field and it is to be operated by Seadrill for an initial 5-Year period under the $1.1 billion contract between Total and Seadrill.

Heirs Holdings is a joint venture partner and significant equity investor in Seadrill Nigeria .

A statement yesterday described the feat achieved as a milestone in Nigerian business presence in the offshore sector, adding that it aligns with the Nigerian government’s policy of deeper indigenous participation in the oil and gas industry. The ship is Seadrill Limited’s sixth-generation drill ship and latest addition to the Total Upstream Nigeria Limited (Total) fleet of ultra-deep water vessels operating in Nigerian waters.

During the official sail away ceremony in the Samsung Hotel in Geoje , South Korea,  Elumelu, who is also the Chairman of Heirs Holdings, stated: “The global partnership between Heirs Holdings and Seadrill is an important part of our strategy of investing in Africa ’s long-term economic development and today, we celebrate an inspiring example of global collaboration.

“The vessel we are flagging off was built in South Korea by Samsung and will be operated by a Nigerian crew for a French customer, developing one of  Nigeria ’s oil fields. It represents a genuine commitment to knowledge sharing and indigenous participation in  Nigeria ’s resource sector and is a milestone that we can all be proud of.”
Also speaking at the event, Seadrill’s Senior Vice President for Middle East and Africa, Eduardo Antonello said: “In Brazil, we have 80 per cent local staff in the field and I would like for us to achieve the same in Angola and in Nigeria.

“We are heading to 60 per cent in Nigeria, but the only way to get that number up to 80 per cent is to train people. We and our partners, Heirs Holdings, are very keen on investing in training local crews; and long term contracts, like Total’s, give us just the opportunity to do that.”

On his part, the executive secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Mr. Ernest Nwapa emphasised the Nigerian government’s growing insistence that local-international partnership becomes the model for engagement in the Nigerian oil industry.

Culled from http://www.thisdaylive.com