Aker Wins Daewoo Contract for New Deepwater Drillship

- Aker Wins Daewoo Contract for New Deepwater Drillship

Friday, June 17, 2011
Aker Solutions

Aker Solutions has won a contract from Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Equipment to supply a complete drilling equipment package for a new deepwater drillship.

The contract is worth about NOK 540 million. The drill ship will be owned and operated by Tungsten Explorer Company, a subsidiary of Vantage Drilling.

"We are very pleased to have won another contract to deliver our deepwater drilling equipment and systems, which underlines our strong and fruitful relationships with the yard and the team at Vantage Drilling," said Thor Arne Håverstad, executive vice president and head of Aker Solutions' drilling technologies business.

Bill Thomson, VP Assets and Engineering at Vantage Drilling said, "We appreciate the commitment by Aker Solutions to provide a drilling package that meets and exceeds our expectations. This will be the seventh drilling package from Aker Solutions that Vantage will be involved in. As such Aker Solutions' commitment to deliver not only an excellent service during the construction but to provide a first-class customer service when in operations is important to the success of Vantage Drilling."

The equipment will mainly be delivered in 2012.

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Daewoo Wins Vantage Drill Ship Order

Daewoo Wins Vantage Drill Ship Order

Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Asia Pulse Pte Ltd

SEOUL, May 11 Asia Pulse - Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. (KSE:042660), South Korea's No. 2 shipbuilder, said Wednesday that it has won a deal to build a drill ship for Vantage Drilling.

Under the deal with Vantage Drilling of the U.S., Daewoo Shipbuilding will deliver the vessel used to find oil and gas wells in deep waters, by May 2013, the company said in a statement. The value of the contract was not revealed.

Daewoo Shipbuilding said it has an option to build one more drill ship.

The vessels, 238 meters long and 42 meters wide, are capable of drilling in waters up to 12,000 feet deep.

The shipbuilder said a steady rise in demand for such specialized vessels is expected due in part to a steady rise in crude oil prices that have made deep sea exploration and development more profitable.

Daewoo Shipbuilding is targeting orders valued at US$11 billion this year.

(C) 2011 Asia Pulse Pte Ltd.

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Daewoo to Build Vantage Ultra-Deepwater Drillship

Daewoo to Build Vantage Ultra-Deepwater Drillship

Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Vantage Drilling Company

Vantage Drilling Company has entered into an agreement with Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co., Ltd ("DSME") to
construct an ultra-deepwater drillship further expanding the Company's ultra-deepwater drilling fleet. The Company plans to name
the drillship Tungsten Explorer.

The agreement is a fixed price turnkey contract for the construction of the drillship with a scheduled delivery date of May 31, 2013. The
cost of the Tungsten Explorer, including all project management, commissioning, spares, pre-delivery crew costs and inventory is
estimated to be approximately $580 to $590 million. The Company has also obtained a fixed price option for the purchase of an additional drillship.

Tungsten Explorer will be constructed at DSME's shipyard in Okpo, Korea, and will be capable of operating in water depths up to 12,000 feet, with a total vertical drilling depth capacity of 40,000 feet. The hull design has a variable deck load of 20,000 tons and measures 781 feet long by 137 feet wide. The drillship will be equipped with the most technically advanced features in the drilling industry including DP3 dynamic positioning system, 1250 short ton hook load drilling package, a 9000 hp drawworks, as well as offline pipe handling and trip saver system. The drillship will have accommodations for 200 personnel.

Paul Bragg, the Company's Chairman and CEO, commented, "The addition of Tungsten Explorer to our fleet is an exciting development. While this will be our second Company-owned unit to be constructed at DSME, it will be our fifth drillship project undertaken there, inclusive of our three ongoing construction oversight projects. Our strong relationship with the DSME management has allowed us to achieve exceptional project terms -- a) one of the lowest cost construction contracts of this kind, (b) one of the earliest deliveries of the recent order cycle -- just 24 months away, and (c) one of the highest specification ultra-deepwater units yet to be built.

"We are also very pleased that payment terms provide for an initial down payment of just slightly over $100 million, with the balance of
the contract price due at delivery in May 2013. We plan to debt finance the down payment in connection with our planned refinancing
of some of our existing high cost debt.

"The addition of Tungsten Explorer to our fleet will add substantial additional earnings power to Vantage by the second half of 2013."

The Company, a Cayman Islands exempted company, is an offshore drilling contractor, with an owned fleet of four Baker Marine Pacific Class 375 ultra-premium jackup drilling rigs and one ultra-deepwater drillship, the Platinum Explorer. The Company's primary business is to contract drilling units, related equipment and work crews primarily on a dayrate basis to drill oil and natural gas wells. The Company also provides construction supervision services for, and will operate and manage, drilling units owned by others. Through its fleet of seven owned and managed drilling units, the Company is a provider of offshore contract drilling services globally to major, nationaland large independent oil and natural gas companies.

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