THE wholly-owned subsidiaries of Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M) have signed bareboat charter contracts with ADES Saudi Limited Company for two jackup rigs to be deployed in Saudi Arabia, bringing the total number of rigs Keppel O&M has on charter with ADES to four.

In a press statement on Friday (Nov 11), Keppel Corporation : BN4 0% said the charters are projected to generate revenue of about S$155 million for Keppel O&M, including modification works to prepare the rigs for deployment. The charters will be for a period of five years and are expected to commence in H1 2023.

These are the fifth and sixth bareboat charters secured by Keppel O&M this year. The new contracts point to the continued demand for more high-quality drilling rigs of Keppel’s proven KFELS B Class design, said Keppel Corp.

Cantarell III and Cantarell IV jackup rigs – which were originally under bareboat charters with subsidiaries of Mexican conglomerate Grupo R – will be renamed ADM685 and ADM686, and used for these new charters. The legacy rigs are in Mexico and will be transported to Saudi Arabia for modification works before commencing their charters for ADES.

Tan Leong Peng, managing director for new builds at Keppel O&M, said these high-performance rigs have been operating successfully in Mexico and can be “easily” mobilised to work in Saudi Arabia.

“All of our KFELS B Class legacy jackup rigs have secured bareboat charters or are on contract, which reflects the value our rigs bring to rig operators and increases their marketability for sale to potential buyers and investors,” said Tan.

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“Utilisation rates across both the jackup and floater segments have continued to trend upwards, and we are confident our versatile and robust legacy rigs will be in demand across a variety of markets.”

Keppel Corp closed Thursday S$0.02 or 0.3 per cent higher at S$7.10.