Transocean drillship staying on Gulf of Mexico duty with US oil & gas firm for another year

Switzerland-based offshore drilling contractor Transocean has tucked a multi-million contract extension in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico under its belt for an ultra-deepwater drillship employed by Hess Corporation, a U.S.-based oil and gas player.

Set to bring approximately $188 million in backlog, including additional services, the latest contract extension for the Deepwater Asgard drillship will enable the rig to keep working for Hess in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

With 365 days added to the rig’s backlog, the additional scope of work, which is expected to begin in direct continuation of the drillship’s current program, will keep the floater busy until June 2026.

The previous contract extension for the 2014-built Deepwater Asgard drillship was disclosed in April 2024 for another 365 days with a day rate of $505,000.

With a maximum drilling depth of 40,000 ft, the Deepwater Asgard ultra-deepwater dual-activity DSME 12000 drillship can accommodate 200 people and undertake activities in water depths of up to 12,000 ft.

Transocean recently won multimillion-dollar contract extensions for three rigs with Australia’s Woodside Energy, Germany’s Wintershall Dea, and Norway’s Equinor.

The offshore drilling heavyweight also confirmed plans to sell one of its stacked ultra-deepwater floaters to turn its attention to its core fleet assets.