Work progresses on oil rig

After 12 months of construction, the keel laying was installed for the first 90m jack-up drilling rig by PetroVietnam on Tuesday.

The drilling rig is being built in the southern coastal city of Vung Tau by Petro Vietnam Drilling Platform Building Board in co-operation with the PetroVietnam Marine Shipyard Company (PV Shipyard).

"This is a big opportunity for Viet Nam because it shows that we can manufacture a complicated jack-up drilling rig for the first time," Dinh La Thang, Chairman of PetrolVietnam.

At present, there are around 677 sea drilling rigs around the world, and of those, 60 per cent are jack-up drilling rigs.

With a total investment of US$180 million, the rig is expected to be put into operation in mid-2012. This rig is considered to be a key national mechanical project. The technical consultancy and basic design providers are the US-based Le Tourneau Technology Inc. The rig's water depth was upgraded from 60m to 90m.

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