R&B Falcon Corporation Announces Deepwater IV Contract with Texaco
HOUSTON, Feb. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- R&B Falcon Corporation (NYSE: FLC)
announced today that it has confirmed a three-year drilling contract with
Texaco for its newbuild 10,000-foot water depth dynamically positioned
drillship Deepwater IV, as a substitute for the previously contracted
Peregrine VIII. Texaco expects to begin a drilling program offshore West
Africa shortly after the vessel's delivery, which is scheduled for the third
quarter of 2000.
Steve Webster, R&B Falcon's President and CEO,
stated, "We are very
pleased to work with Texaco on its ultra-deepwater
drilling program. This
contract commitment, recently following the
commitment by another deepwater
operator for our 5th generation
ultra-deepwater semi-submersible RBS8-D
reaffirms our view of the relative
strength of the deepwater sector of the
offshore drilling industry. The
Deepwater IV, which is being built by Samsung
Heavy Industries of Korea, is
an enhanced design similar to the three
Deepwater series design drillships
to be delivered by Samsung. The first of
these ships, the Deepwater
Pathfinder, was delivered on schedule and has
recently begun its program in
the U.S. Gulf of Mexico with Conoco. Based on
the outstanding performance
of Samsung with the first three ships, we are
confident the Deepwater IV
will be delivered on time and on budget."
R&B Falcon
Corporation operates the world's largest fleet of marine-based
drilling rigs
servicing the international oil and gas industry. Its fleet is
composed of
136 marine-based drilling units including the industry's largest
fleet of
barge rigs and jackup rigs and a fleet of semi-submersibles and
drillships
which is among the most capable in the world. R&B Falcon also
operates
mobile production units, a leading fleet of towing vessels,
internationally
based land drilling rigs and provides turnkey and integrated
services.
SOURCE R&B Falcon Corporation
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