OREANDA-NEWS.  Keppel FELS Ltd (Keppel FELS) has delivered ARABDRILL 60, a KFELS B Class jackup rig, to Arabian Drilling Company (ADC) five days ahead of schedule, on budget and with a perfect safety record. This marks the 21st new build offshore rig that Keppel FELS has delivered in 2013, setting a new record for the most number of rig deliveries by a company in a year.

The rig was named at a ceremony today in the presence of Mr Mohamed Yousuf Rafie, Chairman, ADC's Board of Directors and Mr Lawrence Wong, Singapore's Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth and Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information as the Guests of Honour.

Mr Mohamed Yousof Rafie, Chairman, Board of Directors, ADC said, "The performance of our first new KFELS B Class rig, ARABDRILL 50, has fully met our expectations and we are now pleased to receive ARABDRILL 60 which we are confident will be just as successful. Together, these two high specification rigs enable us to offer Saudi Aramco productive, safe and cost-efficient drilling operations. We have been impressed with the commitment by Keppel FELS in delivering to high quality and safety standards, while ensuring our requirements were met. This is a win-win partnership we have built with Keppel that we hope to continue into the future."

Mr Saad Saab, Managing Director (Administration), ADC, also thanked Keppel FELS for delivering ARABDRILL 60 ahead of schedule and with an excellent safety record. Mr Muhammad Umar Loan, Managing Director (Technical), ADC, added that the project was completed well with some variation orders to bring the rig in compliance with Saudi Aramco's contract. While thanking Keppel FELS, Mr Muhammad Umar Loan also congratulated DNV-GL and the ADC project management teams on completing this project safely and ahead of schedule.

On how Keppel FELS managed to deliver 21 rigs in a year, Mr Wong Kok Seng, Managing Director (Offshore), Keppel Offshore & Marine and Managing Director, Keppel FELS said, "Building a KFELS B class jackup rig involves coordination among multiple parties and over a thousand workers. This year, we had some 45 projects going on at the same time. We streamlined the building process through new technology and equipment as well as having an innovative construction methodology. All our departments worked seamlessly together to set new benchmarks.

"Even though we had so many deliveries, every customer, such as ADC, is important, and we worked closely with them to understand their needs. We set out to deliver 20 and ended up delivering 21 rigs on time or ahead of schedule and safely. Our previous record was 13 in 2009. That is the Keppel standard. We always challenge ourselves to do better."

ARABDRILL 60 will be ADC's third jackup rig from Keppel FELS and has been chartered to Saudi Arabia's national oil company, Saudi Aramco. The first of the two new rigs, ARABDRILL 50, was delivered earlier this year and is already working successfully for Saudi Aramco. ADC also owns ARABDRILL 30, another KFELS B Class rig since 2009 and the rig is operating for the Al-Khafji Joint Operations (AGOC/KGOC). A strong supporter of Saudi Arabia's offshore drilling programme, Keppel FELS also previously delivered SAR 202, a KFELS Super B Class jackup for Saudi Aramco. Three other rigs, AOD I, AOD II and AOD III delivered to Asia Offshore Drilling this year are also contracted to Saudi Aramco.

ARABDRILL 60 is the 51st KFELS B Class rig delivered since 2002, and this class of rigs makes up more than 30% of the total jackups completed globally since 2000. This award-winning design has a proven track record of global operations, and has established itself as the benchmark in the industry. In 2013 alone, a total of 15 KFELS B Class rigs were delivered while another 18 were ordered.

Developed by Keppel's technology arms, Offshore Technology Development (OTD) and Bennett Offshore, the KFELS B Class jackup design is able to operate in water depths of up to 400 feet and drill to depths of 30,000 feet which is readily upgradeable to higher performance capabilities.

The robust rig incorporates Keppel's advanced and fully-automated high capacity rack and pinion jacking system, and Self-Positioning Fixation System. Designed with industry-leading features for safety and environmental friendliness, the KFELS B Class provides maximum uptime with reduced emissions and discharges.