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Gold/Mining/Energy : Strictly: Drilling and oil-field services -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: chowder who wrote (71425)	8/23/2000 8:00:38 AM
From: Aggie	Respond to of 95453

dabum, Good Morning. Looks like a R&B Falcon rig took the "free Demobilization" option: Wednesday August 23 2:19 AM ET Tankers Halt Runaway Vietnam Rig in South China Sea HANOI, Vietnam (Reuters) - Two tankers brought to a halt a drilling rig leased by the state oil firms of Vietnam and Malaysia that went adrift in the South China Sea at the weekend, rescue officials and industry sources said on Wednesday. The rig Roger W. Mowell, operated by Malaysia's Petronas (PETR.KL) and Vietnam's Oil and Gas Exploration and Exploitation Co, broke away from two accompanying tankers in heavy weather Saturday, one industry source said. The source, who did not want to be identified, said the rig was being moved to Vietnam's Ruby oilfield and had started drifting eastward toward the Spratly Islands. He said two tankers were now pulling the rig back toward Vietnam's southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau where it would arrive for inspection in three or four days. Nearly 40 crew members had been taken off the rig safely on Sunday, the source said. He gave no indication of the condition of the rig or say why it needed to be brought to shore. Petronas holds 85 percent equity in the Ruby oilfield and the Vietnamese partner, state monopoly Petrovietnam, the rest. According to a 1997 report in the Oil Daily, the rig is owned by Houston-based Reading & Bates Corp and is a 300 foot cantilever jackup rig. Industry sources said jackup rigs are generally used in shallow water and have legs that rest on the seabed. They have to be towed when moved from one operational area to another. They said a drifting rig was a potential hazard, especially in bad weather and especially if it was crossing shipping lanes. An official of Vietnam's National Center for Search and Rescue told Reuters the rig had been pulled about 60 nautical miles from a dangerous area of undersea rocks. He also had no information on the condition of the rig, but said seas in the area had been rough. Wednesday's Lao Dong (Labour) newspaper had said the rig drifted at a speed of two to three nautical miles per hour for reasons that were unclear. Vietnamese company officials declined comment. Vietnam Oil and Gas is an affiliate of Petrovietnam. The rig had been reported to be drifting at a time when tropical storm Kaime was approaching central and southern Vietnam, bringing strong winds and torrential rains to coastal provinces. The storm has since weakened. Police and officials earlier said at least six people were killed, two of them Indian tourists, and several reported missing, including a Thai tourist, after Kaemi lashed Vietnam's coast Tuesday. Wednesday's official Vietnam News newspaper also said several fishing boats were reported to have sunk in rough seas off the central coast and another 80 failed to return to shore after the storm hit late Tuesday afternoon. dailynews.yahoo.com Regards to all, Aggie