SBI Offshore jack-up drilling rig contract terminated

A consortium of six “Middle East-Chinese parties” have cancelled the $24m jack-up drilling rig design and engineering contract awarded to SBI O&M in August 2014.

Parent company SBI Offshore gave no specific details about the termination or its consequences, but said the cancellation was made “in view of the downturn in the offshore and marine industry due to the sharp fall in oil prices”.

The contract was for a jack-up drilling rig, specifically designed for deployment in the Middle East and parts of Asia, and able to operate in water depths of up to 110 metres.

SBI O&M was to provide design, engineering and supervision services for the drilling rig, which was to be built in China or Singapore. The rig’s current build status is unclear.

Discussions followed to build up to five of the specialised drilling rigs for the consortium, but no further orders were placed as oil prices continued to decline from mid-2014.