Toil and trouble for Transocean drillship while on Shell job

A Transocean-owned drillship has experienced two operational incidents while working in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico for Shell.

A spokesperson for Shell confirmed to Offshore Energy that the operational incident had happened involving Transocean’s Deepwater Pontus drillship, contracted to Shell in the Gulf of Mexico. The incident occurred at approximately 2 am on November 20 while the drillship was preparing to move off a well located in the Mississippi Canyon.

As explained by the spokesperson, the wellhead remained secure, no flow was detected, and there were no injuries. The two companies have worked together to address this incident and all appropriate regulatory authorities were immediately notified.

According to information on the current deepwater activity in the Gulf of Mexico from the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), the Pontus drillship is currently located in Block MC 764 working on the King prospect in a 3,037ft water depth.

On a related note, Shell also confirmed that the same drillship, Transocean’s Deepwater Pontus, briefly lost power and propulsion on Saturday, July 17 at around 10 am in the southwest Gulf of Mexico. Power and propulsion were restored, and the Pontus was stabilized. The incident happened while the Pontus was conducting operations on a well in the Silvertip prospect located in the Alaminos Canyon. There was no impact on the environment and no damages or injuries.

An investigation to determine the cause of the loss of power is currently ongoing, the spokesperson concluded.

The 2017-built ultra-deepwater drillship Pontus is under a 10-year stint with Shell, which started in October 2017. The rig’s day rate at the time was $519,000 but Transocean’s latest fleet status report shows that the day rate is now $473,000.

Offshore Energy has also reached out to Transocean, seeking further details about the incident, but we are yet to receive a response.

Aside from Pontus, Shell has three other Transocean drillships working in the Gulf of Mexico under 10-year contracts, Deepwater Poseidon, Deepwater Proteus, and Deepwater Thalassa. Earlier this week, Shell informed it had made a material discovery at the Blacktip North prospect in the deepwater of the Gulf of Mexico. According to available information, the well was drilled using the Poseidon drillship.

The Blacktip North well encountered approximately 300 feet net oil pay at multiple levels. Together with other two recent discoveries – Blacktip and Leopard – this discovery represents an opportunity for Shell to increase production in the Perdido Corridor, where its Great White, Silvertip, and Tobago fields are already producing.