| Technical Expertise
On the technical front, Pride continues to provide industry leadership in development of deepwater and ultra-deepwater solutions for our customers. The following are the most significant undertakings in developing and expanding out deepwater fleet:
The Pride Africa and her sister ship, Pride Angola, are at work in offshore Angola, one of the world's most prolific deepwater markets. The two vessels offer drilling capacity in ultra-deep waters, up to 10,000 feet in depth.
Our two ultra deepwater drillships have:
- Dual handling capability to minimize infrastructure and tripping time.
- Exceptional motion behavior with minimum downtime during rough seas (wave heights up to six meters).
- Safer layout, increased freeboard, and increased safety for B.O.P handling at high cellardeck levels above the waterline.
- Less power and fuel requirements than other drillships.
- Zero discharge.
Both ships have been contracted on a multi-year basis for exploration and development of prolific concessions offshore Angola. Within the past few years, more deepwater discoveries have been made off the coast of West Africa, providing numerous drilling opportunities for many years to come.
After the purchase of the Pride South America in September 1998, Pride entered into a joint venture, Petrodrill, with a Brazilian partner to build and operate four Amethyst-class, Dynamically Positioned semisubmersibles after the partner had been awarded long-term contracts by Petrobras. Construction commenced on the Pride Brazil and Pride Carlos Walter at the Daewoo yard in Okpo, South Korea during the year 2000. In March 2001, Pride acquired the joint venture partner's interest in the rigs and now owns both rigs 100%.
The Pride Carlos Walter and Pride Brazil, commissioned in 2001, are DP rigs and have a water depth capability for drilling of 5,000 feet (1,500 meters). Their design is an enhanced and updated version of the Pride South America. The rigs are compact, self-propelled and include innovative features such as riser storage in the columns and a specialized hydraulic riser handling system.
Innovation plays a crucial role in our success. The Pride Portland and Pride Rio de Janeiro are the latest additions to our fleet and incorporate the highly sophisticated Amethyst design, with the most advanced deepwater drilling technology for operations to 5,600 feet of water.
These rigs, although identical in concept and external design to the Pride Brazil and Pride Carlos Walter, have been upgraded to meet what the joint venture considers to be the requirements of future clients.
The Pride Portland and Pride Rio de Janeiro were brought to Maine in sections and were assembled at the Cianbro Corp. shipyard. Cianbro transported each rig's pontoon assembly and deck boxes to Portland, where workers welded each deck box and derrick onto the pontoons, essentially creating square-shaped ships about the size of a football field and 324 feet tall from the bottom of the pontoon to the tip of the derrick. In November 2006, Pride acquired its partner’s interest in the joint venture companies that own the two deepwater semisubmersibles Pride Rio de Janeiro and Pride Portland. The transaction increased the Company’s interest in these two units from 30% to 100%.
Kizomba A was Pride's first drilling rig designed for a tension leg platform (TLP), which is a type of surface wellhead platform (SWHP) rig. Kizomba A arrived in Angola in October 2003 and began drilling operations the following month.
One hundred twenty Pride personnel are assigned to the rig. Both drilling and production will occur on the Kizomba A platform, and our employees have undergone comprehensive training, including training in simultaneous operations.
Production began flowing at 120,000 barrels of oil in August 2004, with 11 wells put on line in about 3,900 feet (1,189 meters) of water, and is expected to reach 250,000 barrels per day.
Kizomba B is also expected to recover nearly 1 billion barrels of oil, also at a target production rate of 250,000 barrels per day.
The Kizomba B TLP and FPSO hull fabrication are complete and topsides integration is under way with installation planned for mid-2005 and first oil in early 2006.
At 746ft in length and 149ft around, the Holstein development consists of a truss spar, equipped with facilities for simultaneous production and drilling operations.
Located in approximately 4,300 feet of water in Green Canyon Block 645, the Holstein spar is the largest of its kind in the world. Production began on December 9, 2004. At peak production, the field is expected to produce more than 100,000 barrels of oil and 90 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.
In the Boarshead Basin of the Mississippi Canyon block off the Louisiana coast, approximately 150 miles southeast of New Orleans, lies the largest oil field ever discovered in the Gulf of Mexico at depths ranging from 5,800 to 6,500 feet. Scheduled to begin production in 2005, the field will be developed via Thunder Horse, the world's largest semi-submersible floating production, drilling and quarters (PDQ) unit with a total operating displacement of more than 140,000 tons. Two impressive features of Thunder Horse are the 120,000-ton hull based on a four leg semi-submersible design; and the platform that is designed to be the largest semi-submersible production unit in the world. The platform will be comprised of two decks; a lower deck measuring 350 by 350 feet, and the upper deck measuring 350 by 450 feet. The platform will also include quarters for 230 persons. Peak production rates are targeted at 250,000 barrels per day of liquids and 200 million cubic feet per day of natural gas. This unit could recover in excess of a billion oil-equivalent barrels, making Thunder Horse the largest discovery to date in the Gulf of Mexico.
Pride provides the drilling crews and performs all rig related operations onboard through an O&M contract, with the client. |
quality service to our customers by conducting operations in a safe, environmentally sound and socially responsible manner while maintaining the highest ethical standards. | |
