Sembcorp Marine, the world’s second-biggest maker of oil rigs, said its unit won a US$237.3 million ($343 million) order to build a second floating drilling rig from SeaDragon Offshore of Norway.

Jurong Shipyard Pte will build, equip and complete a semi- submersible drilling unit for SeaDragon by the end of June 2011, Sembcorp Marine said today in a statement to the Singapore stock exchange. The order is from an option the European company had when it signed a similar contract in April, it said.
  
Depleting reserves and long-term energy demand are encouraging oil companies to look for new fields in deeper waters. The floating rig ordered from Jurong Shipyard will be able to operate in depths of up to 30,000 feet. The price of crude has advanced more than 50% this year.
   
“This rig order is testimony of the confidence that our clients, partners and vendors have in the deepwater market,” Don Lee, senior general manager of the offshore division at Jurong Shipyard, said in the statement. “Despite the current challenges due to the economic downturn and the credit crunch, our orderbook continues to strengthen.”
   
The Singaporean company said on May 8 that its order book was $8.42 billion with deliveries stretching into early 2012.
   
Sembcorp Marine gained as much as 1.1% to $2.78 and traded at $2.77 at 9:01 a.m. in Singapore. The stock has advanced 65% this year, the sixth-best performer on the 30-member Straits Times Index.