OREANDA-NEWS. Lamprell (ticker: LAM), a leading provider of fabrication, engineering and contracting services to the onshore and offshore energy industry, announces the completion of construction on a further jackup drilling rig, the "Shuwehat", and its delivery to Abu Dhabi's National Drilling Company ("NDC"), safely, within budget and as scheduled.

This follows the recent announcement on 12 November when the Group received a new contract award from NDC for the construction of two further jackup drilling rigs of a similar design and high specification, which is valued at approximately USD 365 million.

The contract for the "Shuwehat" rig was signed in April 2012 and this is the fifth in a series of eight rigs with the LeTourneau Super 116E (Enhanced) Class design which are being built and delivered by Lamprell to NDC. This latest rig has been delivered to the client following the completion of the third and fourth rigs, the "Qarnin" and the "Marawwah" respectively, earlier this year. Lamprell has achieved another Company record with the delivery of three drilling units to one client in a single year.

The "Shuwehat" rig is the 11th Super 116E jackup drilling unit that the Group has delivered to various clients during the last six years. The jackup rig was officially named, and completion marked, at a ceremony held at Lamprell's Hamriyah facility in the United Arab Emirates earlier today, prior to departure for operations at its drilling location in Abu Dhabi.

NDC Chief Executive Officer Mr. Abdalla Saeed Al Suwaidi commented:

"Today, we proudly witness the completion of rig Shuwehat, a true technological marvel. This rig represents a great addition to the NDC fleet of modern rigs, and it will help the company maintain the highest levels of reliability and efficiency. A few years back, we partnered with Lamprell to start building offshore jack up rigs in the UAE. We are proud that we made such a strategic decision, and the four previous rigs, namely Makasib, Muhaiyimat, Qarnin, and Marawwah are working safely and drilling for ADMA-OpCo.

While we aspire to achieve our future objectives, and as we celebrate our current achievements, I'd like to extend sincere appreciation to ADNOC higher management and the NDC board of directors for their guidance and continuous support."

Commenting on the delivery, Jim Moffat, Chief Executive Officer, Lamprell, said:

"Lamprell's project execution this year continues to be of the highest standards and I am pleased to announce the delivery of this fifth jackup rig to NDC, our long-standing client. We have been able to prove once again our ability to complete a major project to world-class standards of safety and quality, and we are proud to construct this latest project in the UAE, for use in the UAE, where we have such strong ties.

The "Shuwehat" rig is the third rig handed over to NDC in 2014 and we are scheduled to deliver the next NDC rig to the client within a matter of months. We believe that the recent contract award of two rigs with three options by NDC demonstrates our client's continuing confidence in our ability to maintain our strong project execution track record on a consistent basis and we look forward to working closely with NDC in the coming years."