Gulf Drilling International (GDI) a subsidiary of Gulf International Services (GIS) the largest oilfield services company in Qatar, announced today that the new jack-up drilling rig “Dukhan” has been accepted by its client, Qatar Petroleum, and left NKOM Shipyard at Ras Laffan yesterday in route to its first location. “Dukhan" is the 9th offshore jack-up rig in GDI's fleet and the 3rd jack-up rig to be under contract to QP, joining the jack-up rigs “Al Doha” and “Al Zubarah”.

GDI took delivery of the rig from Keppel Fells Shipyard in Singapore last August and had it dry towed to Qatar last month. While undergoing final commissioning and testing in NKOM Shipyard, various third party equipment was installed and drill pipe loaded onto the rig to achieve QP's final acceptance.

GDI’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Ibrahim J. Al Othman said: “I am pleased to see this rig sail out safely to its first well location in Qatar ahead of schedule. This marks the 5th state of the art cyber rig of GDI’s fleet and will serve to further enhance our operational capabilities while lowering the average age of our rigs. The inspection and acceptance process went very smoothly, allowing drilling services to commence early than expected. I want to thank QP for their excellent support and cooperation, which made the early start of drilling operations possible.”

This rig has been customized to meet QP's requirements and is capable of performing drilling operations anywhere in Qatar. It has a 75' cantilever outreach, 150 man accommodation, high volume centrifuges, high capacity for bulk mud treatment, and the capability of drilling wells up to 30,000ft depth.