Sevan Drilling has confirmed a 3-year charter valued at more than US $550m for its newbuild rig Sevan Louisiana to work for LLOG Bluewater Holdings LLC.

The company signed a letter of intent for the rig in February, and now says that it has entered into the contract for operations in the US Gulf. Sevan says its Rig No. 3, currently under construction at Cosco Quidong shipyard in China, will be named the Sevan Louisiana and used for the charter contract.

The rig will be capable of drilling in water depths of up to 3,048 m (10,000 ft) and will employ the company’s trademark cylindrical hull design, which makes the rig less sensitive to weather conditions. The Sevan Louisiana is scheduled for delivery in the fourth quarter of 2013, and the start of operations under the charter contract is expected to be in January 2014. The total value of the charter contract is in excess of $550m, said Sevan Drilling.

CEO Scott Kerr said: “The execution of this charter contract represents an important milestone for Sevan Drilling, and we are very pleased to have reached agreement with LLOG which is a well reputed operator in the US Gulf of Mexico.”

Scott Gutterman, President and CEO of LLOG, added: “Execution of this contract is another key step in accelerating the drilling and development of our extensive portfolio of exploration prospects in the Gulf of Mexico. The Sevan Louisiana will be capable of drilling each prospect in our inventory, and the rig has numerous operating, safety and environmental advantages. Sevan is an outstanding company and we are looking forward to the business relationship.”

Sevan Drilling is in the process of establishing an office in the US to support the rig operation.

- Construction of the Sevan Louisiana is progressing according to plan and has now reached 70% overall completion, according to the contractor’s latest operational update. Commissioning of the first systems, diesel generators, started in January this year, and is also progressing according to plan.

Sevan also confirmed that its Sevan Driller unit recorded a technical uptime of 83% during March. The downtime for the month was due to testing of the Blow Out Preventer (BOP) after the replacing of seals, which took place in February. The company’s Sevan Brasil unit, meanwhile, achieved a technical uptime of 99%.

Construction is also progressing according to plan on the company’s Rig no 4, it reported, and has now reached 56% overall completion.

Offshore