Petrobras Approves 26 New Rigs for Offshore Oil

Petrobras, Brazil's state-owned oil giant, approved the construction of more than two dozen new oil rigs designed to tap into the country's large offshore oil deposits.

The announcement was made as Petrobras and Brazilian officials invest $200 billion in the country's offshore oil. Of particular interest is oil trapped beneath a layer of salt in the Santos Basin, said to be the largest oil find in the Western Hemisphere in the past 30 years.

The rigs will be made by Sete Brasil and Ocean Rig, which plan to have the rigs manufactured domestically. The contracts also call for the construction of new shipyards.

More than half the rigs will be constructed from domestic materials and are scheduled for completion within 48 to 90 months.

Sete Brasil will build 21 rigs while Ocean Rig will build five. Both companies will be the operators of their respective rigs for 15 years. Sete Brasil's rigs are expected to be leased for $530,000 a day while Ocean Rig's units will be leased for $548,000 daily over their terms, the Petrobras announcement said.