Aker Kvaerner drill deal

Aker Kvaerner has announced that it is manufacturing drilling systems for Daewoo and it is investing in streamlining its subsea tree manufacturing facility.

The Norwegian company announced on Friday that it has signed a contract with Daewoo Shipbuilding Marine Engineering in South Korea to deliver drilling systems for two semi-submersible drilling rigs ordered by SeaDrill. The total contract value for Aker Kvaerner is approximately NOK 930 million.

The deal is for two complete drilling packages consisting of engineering, equipment deliveries and commissioning services and options to be agreed and amended at a later stage.

The deepwater semi-submersible drilling rigs are scheduled for delivery in the first and third quarters of 2008.

Aker Kvaerner has also announced its intention to invest NOK 65 million to streamline operations at its Tranby subsea tree manufacturing operation.

The company says the investment in new machining technology and a new subsea tree assembly line will expand subsea tree production capacity by 25 per cent and increase manufacturing efficiency. Subsea tree systems are devices used to control flow from subsea oil and gas wells.