Naming the jack-up rig fully managed by Vietnamese engineers
(NLDO) – Deputy Prime Minister Bùi Thanh Sơn attended the naming ceremony of a jack-up drilling rig that has been reactivated by Vietnamese engineers.
On the morning of August 18, PetroVietnam Drilling & Well Services Corporation (PV Drilling, stock code: PVD), a member of Vietnam National Industry - Energy Group (Petrovietnam), held the naming ceremony for the jack-up rig PV DRILLING VIII at Rạch Dừa Ward, Ho Chi Minh City.
Deputy Prime Minister Bùi Thanh Sơn, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Phan Thị Thắng, along with representatives from ministries, agencies, and Petrovietnam attended the ceremony.
Deputy Prime Minister Bùi Thanh Sơn and Petrovietnam leaders press the button to name the PVD8 rig
Deputy Prime Minister Bùi Thanh Sơn in the control cabin of the PVD8 rig
This rig expands PV Drilling's offshore rig fleet to six units, meeting the growing demand for exploration and development drilling projects in Vietnam and the Southeast Asian market.
Mr. Nguyễn Xuân Cường, General Director of PV Drilling, stated that PVD8 has completed 99% of the reactivation and upgrading work and is ready for deployment under a signed drilling program with clients, scheduled to start in early September 2025.
"This is the first time in Vietnam that a reactivation and upgrade project for a jack-up rig has been carried out entirely domestically, managed by Vietnamese engineers, experts, and project teams. The completion and commissioning of PVD8 is not only a proud milestone but also opens up new opportunities for similar projects in the future," said Mr. Nguyễn Xuân Cường.
PVD8 expands PV Drilling’s fleet to six offshore rigs, meeting rising demand in Vietnam and Southeast Asia
All PV Drilling rigs under contract
With the upgrading and commissioning of PVD8, PV Drilling now owns a modern offshore fleet comprising five jack-up rigs and one tender-assist semi-submersible rig.
Currently, all rigs are under drilling contracts with clients in Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei. All operate with high efficiency and absolute safety.
Right after the ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Bùi Thanh Sơn toured the PVD8 rig
Mr. Lê Ngọc Sơn, Member of the Member Council and General Director of Petrovietnam, noted that choosing the right timing and finding a suitable rig has never been simple, especially amid today's volatile oil market.
In fact, when PV Drilling first considered acquiring the PVD8 jack-up rig - which had been idle for some time - Petrovietnam's leadership had many concerns. No reactivation and upgrade project of this scale for a jack-up rig had ever been implemented in Vietnam before.
PV Drilling successfully bid and was selected by the Vietsovpetro Joint Venture to use the rig for a drilling program at Block 09-2/09, scheduled to begin at the end of August, according to Mr. Lê Ngọc Sơn.
PVD8 was originally built in 2007 in Singapore based on the KFELS Class B Mode V design. To bring the rig back into service with the quality of a newly built rig, PV Drilling implemented reactivation in two main phases.
Phase 1: Partial repair and reactivation in Labuan (Malaysia) in late December 2024, followed by towing the rig to Vietnam in February 2025.
Phase 2: Full reactivation and upgrading in Vũng Tàu, including test runs, acceptance, and readiness for operation, targeted for completion in August 2025.