STX Group Wins First Drill Ship Order From Noble

STX Group, owner of Europe's largest shipyard, won a drill ship contract worth as much as $1.2 billion from Noble Corp., the third-largest U.S. offshore oil driller.  The order, the first of its type won by Changwon, South Korea-based STX Heavy Industries Co., includes a $300 million deepwater drill ship for delivery in 2011 and an option for three additional vessels, STX Group said in an e-mailed statement today.  Record oil prices and depleting reserves in shallow waters are spurring energy producers such as Petroleo Brasileiro SA and Exxon Mobil Corp. to explore for crude in deep seas. Noble is charging as much as $525,000 a day for some rigs as it expands operations in Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria and Qatar.
Noble on Sept. 22 said its subsidiary Noble Drilling Holding LLC signed the contract with STX Heavy and Huisman Equipment BV, a Dutch-based design and construction firm.
STX will build the hull and install propulsion systems in Dalian, China, and Huisman will later add topside equipment, Noble said. The drill ship will measure 620 feet (190 meters) long and 105 feet wide and will be able to drill to a depth of 40,000 feet.
``Deepwater dynamics remain robust and we see unsatisfied demand for ultra-deepwater rigs extending out into 2012,'' Noble's Chief Executive Officer David Williams said in the Sept. 22 statement.
STX Corp., a holding company of the STX Group, advanced 7.9 percent, the most in more than two weeks, to close at 39,150 won in Seoul, while STX Shipbuilding Co., the owner of Aker Yards A/S of Norway, gained 0.9 percent to 23,200 won, compared with the 0.4 percent rise in the Kospi index.