Transocean Ltd. has announced that it intends to pursue the creation of an entity comprising eight of its UK North Sea midwater drilling rigs.
The company expects to establish the new entity, Caledonia Offshore Drilling Company, during the second half of 2014 and, at an appropriate stage, separate Caledonia from Transocean.
The offshore drilling assets currently contemplated for transfer to Caledonia include the following rigs: Sedco 704, Sedco 711, Sedco 712, Sedco 714, Transocean John Shaw, Transocean Prospect, GSF Arctic III and J.W. McLean.
The UK North Sea remains an important market for Transocean and the company is committed to maintaining its presence in the region. As such, various options for the separation of Caledonia are under consideration. Caledonia is expected to have a focused approach to assets and operations in the UK North Sea and it will continue to provide best-in-class service to customers.
The creation of Caledonia reflects the continued execution of Transocean’s asset strategy to improve the overall capability of its offshore drilling fleet by divesting non-core assets, complemented by the addition of new, high-specification offshore drilling rigs.