Asia Offshore Drilling (AOD) has declared the first of two options at Keppel FELS to build a jackup rig worth $184m. The latest order will be AOD's third with Singapore's KFELS and is scheduled for delivery in the third-quarter of 2013. AOD, unit of Singapore-listed Mermaid Maritime, had ordered two jackups from KFELS in December last year. “We continue to see bifurcation in the jackup market. Oil companies are showing a preference for high specification jackups,” said Chandchutha Chandratat, chairman of AOD. With the exercise of the option, KFELS's new orders for the year-to-date have reached S$7.4bn ($6bn). “We have delivered 33 jackup rigs based on the KFELS B Class design, with another 19 on order, said Tong Chong Heong, ceo of Keppel Offshore & Marine.