Hong Kong-listed TSC said the new buyer HDS has paid an initial deposit for the Zentech R-550D rig, which is currently under construction at CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding.
The latest sale to HDS replaces the sale to Petrolor previously announced back in December 2013. TSC said the deal was agreed on a mutual basis with Petrolor.
The jack-up rig sale and purchase agreement was made between HDS and Alliance Offshore Drilling (AOD), wholly-owned by TSC. HDS, on the other hand, is 90% owned by Indonesia’s drilling and oil service contractor PT Harmoni Drilling Services, and the remaining 10% is owned by AOD.
Financial details of the sale and purchase transaction were not disclosed.
“The rig will on completion by the second quarter of this year be well-primed for securing oil and gas drilling contracts with production sharing contract operators in Indonesia,” TSC announced.
The R-550D jack-up rig is a high performance, three-legged, extended reach cantilever type jack-up drilling rig, suitable for operations in many major offshore fields in Asia, Africa, the Gulf of Mexico and the Middle East in water depths of up to 400 feet.
TSC added that by working with HDS, AOD is able to fulfill the mandatory local content factor required by the Indonesian Oil and Gas Authority, and pave the way for the rig to operate in Indonesia at a competitive day rate compared to non-Indonesian rigs.
“The company recognises the need to be cost competitive in order to win bids for drilling contracts through PT HDS in the current low oil price scenario. PT HDS has a long term goal of becoming a major oilfield services company and sees the opportunity to work with TSC as fully complementary to its long term strategies,” TSC said.
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