Transocean Scores $488 Million Worth Of Deals

Offshore driller Transocean has received contract awards or extensions for five of its drilling rigs. Together, the deals represent around $488 million of firm backlog.

Deepwater Invictus, an ultra-deepwater drillship, was awarded a new three-well contract with an estimated 100-day duration in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico with an independent operator. The contract contributes an estimated $43 million in backlog and is expected to commence in direct continuation of the rig’s current program.

Data provided in Transocean’s fleet status report claimed that the drillship is currently working for Woodside in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico at $375,000 per day and the deal is slated to end in March 2023. The rig has been working for Woodside from March 2022 on a day rate of $295,000. Since then, the day rate has been risen several times.

Transocean Barents, a harsh environment semi-submersible, was awarded a new one-well contract with an estimated 110-day duration in the U.K. North Sea with ‘a major operator.’ The contract contributes an estimated $34 million in backlog and is expected to commence in the first quarter of 2023.

Before this deal, this rig worked for Shell in Norway from January 2022 until October 2022 under a day rate of $282,000.

Additionally, Harbour Energy exercised the third option on its U.K. North Sea contract with Paul B. Loyd, Jr., a harsh environment semi-submersible, for eight P&A wells, adding an estimated $48 million in backlog. The additional term is expected to last 275 days and extends the contract to the third quarter of 2024. The rig has been working with Harbour Energy since December 2022 on a $175,000 dayrate.

In Norway, certain previously disclosed options under the Transocean Norge contract with Wintershall DEA and OMV have now been added to backlog. The incremental term is expected to last 773 days and contribute an estimated $331 million to backlog.

Finally, TotalEnergies exercised a one-well option on its contract with Development Driller III, an ultra-deepwater semi-submersible, working in Suriname. The incremental well is expected to last 90 days and contribute an estimated $32 million in backlog.

The rig’s deal with TotalEnergies in Suriname will start in April under a day rate of $360,000 per day, which would run until June 2023, then the dayrate would increase to $370,000 per day until September 2023.

To contact the author, email bojan.lepic@rigzone.com