Petrobras commits to 21 newbuild rigs

[c.captain]

Petrobras' Board of Directors has approved the bidding process for the construction of up to twenty-one drilling rigs to be built in Brazil. Drilling contractors that are awarded a contract to build a rig will also be awarded a contract with Petrobras for the charter of the unit. Each company that participates can submit a proposal for one or more batches of one or more rigs, up to a total of twenty-one units. Certification of domestic content (products and services sourced in Brazil) will be a requirement, with minimum figures specified by the National Petroleum Agency (ANP).

This tender is part of Petrobras' overall strategy to hire up to twenty-eight new rigs to be built in Brazil for deepwater exploration primarily in pre-salt fields.

Earlier this year, Petrobras awarded a rig construction package to Sete Brasil valued at Us $4.6 billion for the construction of seven deepwater drillships. These rigs will be built by Estaleiro Atlantico Sul, which is a consortium of Samsung Heavy Industries, Queiroz Galvao and Camargo Correa, with the first rig expected to be operational in 2015.

Not a big surprise here...Petrobras has been talking about doing this now for some time, but we do need to add these 21 new rigs to the more than 45 still to be delivered.

I'll see your five drillships and raise you three semis!

[richard8000milesaway]

yeah, this one has been on the books for a while. i'm curious to see what this activity will do to shipyard work in singapore and china. prices rising?

[Sukker]

Hmm, can anyone say bubble

[Dublin-Bollix]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...1VPHCO6C7S.DTL

[c.captain]

This right here is what tells it all:

Petrobras is spending about $40B a year to double output over the next decade.

That's $400 billion over the next ten years! Can you imagine the jobs that is going to be created in Brazil as this accelerates! It is going to make the great offshore surge in the 70's seem very pale and tepid in comparison.

I wonder how many billions of barrels of crude they are sitting on down there? It must be quite a shi(p)load!

[GuLfOfStOnEy]

That's good news to hear!

[PR-9]

I better start learning Portuguese!