Mitsubishi – Petrobras JV to build drillship

Mitsubishi Corp., Japan?s largest trading house, and Brazil?s state-controlled Petroleo Brasileiro SA will build a $830 million vessel to drill in deep seas for crude oil and natural gas. The vessel would be capable of drilling in ocean depths of just over 3,000 meters (10,000 feet), Mitsubishi said in a statement on its website. A South Korean shipbuilder has been chosen to build the vessel, a Mitsubishi spokesman said, declining to name it.

Oil and gas explorers, having already tapped shallow-water reserves, are searching for the fuel in deep-sea wells, increasing the need for drilling vessels that can reach deposits far below the ocean.

A joint venture between Mitsubishi and Petrobras, Brazil?s biggest oil company, will own and operate the vessel, to be completed in June 2010. Petrobras will use the new ship at its deep-sea oil and gas reserves at home and abroad, Mitsubishi said in the statement.