New 910-day gig for Transocean’s ultra-deepwater drillship

February 1, 2023, by Melisa Cavcic

Offshore drilling contractor Transocean has won a long-term deal for one of its ultra-deepwater drillships offshore Brazil.

Dhirubhai Deepwater KG2 drillship; Source: Transocean

Transocean reported on Tuesday, 31 January 2023, that the ultra-deepwater drillship, Dhirubhai Deepwater KG2, was awarded a 910-day contract by a national oil company for work offshore Brazil.

The offshore drilling contractor explains that the estimated backlog of $392 million excludes a mobilisation fee of 90 times the contract day rate. The new contract is expected to start in the third quarter of 2023.

Back in July 2021, this drillship was awarded a one-well contract, plus two one-well options, with Shell in Brunei. The contract was scheduled to start and end in December 2021 with a day rate of $190,000. The rig’s previous contract was with Woodside in Myanmar with a day rate of $250,000.

Based on Transocean’s fleet status report from October 2022, this drillship has been idle since January 2022. The 2010-built Dhirubhai Deepwater KG2 is a sixth-generation ultra-deepwater drillship of Samsung 12000 double hull design. It was constructed at Samsung Heavy Industries Geoje, South Korea.

The drillship is capable of drilling in water depths up to 12,000 ft. It can accommodate 180 people and its maximum drilling depth is 35,000 ft.

Regarding Transocean’s recent activities, it is worth noting that the rig owner secured contract awards and extensions for five drilling rigs, as reported in January 2023.