KCA DEUTAG announced that it has been selected by Woodside Energy as one of two drilling contractors to carry out a major Front End Engineering Design (FEED) contract relating to a 3,000HP Modular Platform Drilling Rig (MPDR) for the Browse Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Development, offshore North West Australia.
The MPDR will be capable of drilling large bore gas wells up to 9,000m measured depth and of being transferred between Dry Tree Units (DTUs) based on a tension leg platform design. The DTUs will be positioned over the Calliance and Brecknock Fields, located approximately 270km from the Kimberley Coast, Western Australia.
Woodside is Australia’s largest independent publicly traded hydrocarbon exploration and production company and one of the world’s leading producers of LNG. The Browse LNG Development is a joint venture between Woodside, BHP Billiton, BP, Chevron and Shell.
FEED work has commenced and is being carried out by KCA DEUTAG’s engineering division RDS in its London offices. It will take approximately six months to complete, include more than 30 persons, and involve interfacing with Woodside’s two selected DTU contractors, Aker Solutions in Oslo and MODEC in Houston.
Neil Stevenson, KCA DEUTAG’s Director, Business Development and Commercial, said, “This is an extremely important contract for KCA DEUTAG for a new client, and on one of the largest offshore LNG developments in the world. It also provides a major breakthrough into the expanding Australia onshore and offshore drilling market and builds upon our established presence in Southeast Asia. The award is very much aligned with our strategy of seeking involvement in new projects from the very early conceptual and front end stages and then being retained and accountable for the drilling performance of the rig during the operations phase.”
[mappress] Source: KCA DEUTAG, June 6, 2011; Image: Woodside