Petrobras will pay $76 billion to lease 26 drilling rigs it would use over 15 years in Brazil's offshore pre-salt zone, CEO Jose Sergio Gabrielli said Friday.
Gabrielli's statement, at a webcast press conference in Rio de Janeiro to discuss the state-led Petrobras' fourth quarter results, followed a company announcement late Thursday that it had approved contracts for 21 offline rigs with Sete Brasil and for five dual activity rigs with Ocean Rig.
The Sete Brasil rigs would be leased at an average daily rate of $530,000 and those from Ocean Rig would be leased at the average day rate of $548,000, said Petrobras, adding it hoped to lower the average day rates to $500,000 for the Sete Brasil contract and to $535,000 for the Ocean Rig contract.
All the rigs are to be manufactured in Brazil and are to be delivered in 48 to 90 months, Petrobras said. Petrobras owns 10% of Sete Brasil, a Sao Paulo-based company formed for construction of rigs in Brazil.
The five rigs from Norway's Ocean Rig were not part of an earlier company plan, but Gabrielli said Petrobras decided to add them because they would "bring increased productivity with their technology which allows simultaneous dual drilling."
Gabrielli Friday said Petrobras in 2011 had contracts for 19 deepwater rigs, up from 13 in 2010, but expects to have 33 in 2015.
In December, Petrobras scrapped a tender for contracts with both companies and re-started negotiations aimed at obtaining "better contract conditions," the company said at that time.
As it true for oil service providers in Brazil, the rigs have local content requirements of 55%-65%, Petrobras said Thursday. "Construction of new shipyards and the use of existing infrastructure" is also part of the contract, it said.
Having sufficient rig capacity continues to be one of the major challenges Petrobras faces in developing the pre-salt area.
Petrobras Thursday also said that it would consider additional financing options for both Sete Brasil and Ocean Rig, through Brazil's National Development Bank, or BNDES.
