Petrobras New Rig, Ship Deals to Hit Global Capacity

Brazilian state-run oil giant Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PBR) is planning a major expansion in its fleet of oil rigs, tankers and support vessels, a program that will have a major impact on worldwide capacity for such equipment, the company’s president said Tuesday.

“We know this will affect capacity worldwide,” the firm’s president, Jose Sergio Gabrielli, told a meeting of the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce.
Petrobras, as the company is known, is planning to lease 28 new oil rigs capable of operating offshore in waters more than 2,000 meters deep, which will be brought online between 2013 and 2017, Gabrielli said. It also plans to add an additional 175 vessels to its fleet, including 122 supply ships and 44 very large crude-oil carriers, among others.

Last week, Petrobras said it has leased 12 drilling units for use in ultra-deep waters of between 2,400 to 3,000 meters, all of which will be built abroad and delivered to begin operating by no later than mid-2012. Because of the long-term approach, those were contracted at prices below the $600,000 to $800,000 daily rate which an oil rig can charge on the spot market, he said.

In a conversation with reporters that followed, Gabrielli said there are “less than 20″ oil rigs in the world capable of drilling wells in the extraordinarily deep waters where Petrobras operates.

Rigzone