Shah Alam, 17 Feb 2013 – UMW Oil & Gas Corporation Sdn. Bhd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the UMW Group, took delivery of its new jack-up drilling rig, UMW NAGA 4, in Singapore yesterday. UMW signed an agreement to purchase the rig in June 2012 at a cost of USD214 million. The rig was constructed by Keppel FELS Limited.
This is the Group’s third jack-up drilling rig, in addition to NAGA 2 and NAGA 3. This premium jack-up drilling rig is of high specifications and is able to work in more challenging environments. It has the capability to work in deepwaters up to 400 feet and has a drilling depth of 30,000 feet. UMW NAGA 4 is built to Keppel’s proprietary KFELS B Class design, which is today the industry standard for modern jack-up rigs. It incorporates Keppel’s advanced and fully-automated high capacity rack and pinion elevating system and self-positioning fixation system.
The delivery of this new rig marks another important milestone in UMW Oil & Gas’ history. It is also part of the company’s long-term plan to increase its fleet of drilling rigs to expand into regional markets and eventually becoming a global oil & gas player.
Rohaizad Darus, President of UMW Oil & Gas Corporation said, “At present, UMW Oil & Gas is actively involved in Indonesia, Thailand, China and Turkmenistan, but we are also aggressively developing new markets within ASEAN and the Asia-Pacific region. We are expanding our asset base to address these new markets and the higher technical requirements of the industry”.
UMW Oil & Gas is presently the only Malaysian company that owns and operates jack-up drilling rigs. NAGA 2 is currently working in Indonesia for Hess (Indonesia-Pangkah) Ltd., while NAGA 3 is working for Petronas Carigali in Malaysia.
Rohaizad added, “The delivery of UMW NAGA 4 is significant not only for UMW, but also for the Malaysian oil and gas industry. This rig will be the third jack-up drilling rig fully owned and operated by a Malaysian company. Besides providing the capacity and capability required for UMW’s long term expansion plan, the rig will also provide opportunity for Malaysians to be trained and exposed to premium modern jack-up drilling rig”.
UMW NAGA 4 has the capacity to accommodate 150 people, about 25% more than typical jack-up drilling rig of its class. The additional capacity will be used to take in trainees from the drilling academy established by UMW under collaboration with Petronas’ skills training arm, Institut Teknologi Petroleum Petronas (INSTEP).