The design includes two million pound hoisting capacity, a 15,000psi high-pressure BOP and nearly 5,000bbls of liquid mud capacity that make Ensco 109 suited to drill deep gas wells. The design also permits drilling in water depths up to 350’ to a total depth of 35,000’.
Dan Rabun, chairman, president and CEO of Ensco, said: “The Middle East and Southeast Asia, in particular, are regions where we believe customers will require more high-spec, deep-gas jackup rigs. Ensco 109 will address this growing need and is expected to command higher day rates than standard duty jackups.”
The company will assume the current drilling contract for the rig with Apache in Australia that extends through May 2011. The rig was built in Keppel FELS shipyard in Singapore where Ensco’s four remaining Ensco 8500 Series ultra-deepwater semisubmersible drilling rigs are being constructed.
