China's first drilling rig capable of working in Arctic ready to go

Leading Chinese marine equipment manufacturer CIMC Raffles completed the deep-water semi-submersible drilling rig named North Dragon in its Yantai yard, Shandong province, on Thursday. It is the first semi-submersible rig capable of operating in the Arctic area made by China.

With a cost of about $550 million yuan, the rig is adapted to -20℃ and meets the requirements of ice class. It can be operated in the freezing cold North Sea and Barents Sea areas. Equipped with a Rolls Royce power system and Kongsberg DP3 dynamic positioning system, it is designed to operate in depths of 500 meters, and drill to depths of 8,000 meters.

CIMC Raffles owns 80 percent intellectual properties of the basic design of the rig which was previously controlled by overseas yards, said Yu Ya, the company' president.

He said since 2009, the company has delivered seven deep-water semisubmersible drilling rigs and another five are under construction, accounting for more than 20 percent of the total in the world.

The Arctic Zone owns rich oil and gas resources. According to the United States Geological Survey, 13 percent of oil and 30 percent of gas are found there.