Teesside loses oil rig deal to Singapore

London - Tyne Tees Rigs (TTR), a group of oil companies, has failed in its bid to keep the Seadragon drilling platform at Haverton Hill yard, which could have meant the creation of 1,000 jobs. Engineering firm SeaDragon Offshore Ltd has decided not to proceed with the TTR project proposal and is instead reportedly moving the £300-million project to Singapore.

Cayman Islands-based SeaDragon  originally awarded Teesside Alliance Group, the Engineering, Procurement, Installation and Commissioning contract for the topsides of a semi submersible drilling rig (SeaDragon 01) with delivery scheduled for Q4 2009. However, Seadragon recently decided to pull out of the deal, promptiong TTR to step in with an alternative proposal to rescue the £300-million project.

Seadragon linked its decsion to a company-wide restructuring plan, which, it said, required minimising the risk contained in the project. This, it said, meant "building the rig in a yard with a recent, successful track record of building semi-submersible rigs of this complexity, under the supervision of an industry-experienced project manager, who will then go on to operate the rig under charter."

“We would like to thank the team at TTR, Cleveland Bridge and McNulty for their time and effort over the past couple of weeks. This has not been an issue of costs, skills or commitment, and it is with regret that the Board have decided that SeaDragon cannot work with them in this instance,” Seadragon stated.

However, Tom Brennan GMB regional secretary, northern region, said: “This decision to export 1,000 skilled jobs from the North East is extremely disappointing to say the very least. It is also an absolute scandal that taxpayers money is being used to ship these jobs abroad. The government could have stepped in to keep these jobs here in the UK but chose not do so, which will dismay its natural supporters at a time of recession.”

GMB is considering launching a protest campaign against Sea Dragon and Lloyds TSB - the offshore drilling rig project’s main backer is Lloyds Banking Group, currently being supported by the UK taxpayer.

Back in 2007, Seadragon promised that the project would the biggest non-military marine fabrication project in the UK, and would bring one of the country's largest shipyard facilities, Haverton Hill near Billingham, back into use. The project was being assisted, with non-core funding, by a number of organisations, including regional development agency One North East, Tees Valley Regeneration and English Partnerships.