Transocean finds work for five drillships and four semi-subs

Since its previous fleet status report in April 2021, offshore drilling contractor Transocean has secured contracts for five of its drillships and four semi-submersible rigs, boosting its backlog to $7.3 billion.

In its latest fleet status report, published on Wednesday 21 July, Transocean reported that BHP had exercised a one-well option for the Deepwater Invictus drillship in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. As a result, instead of ending in August 2021, the contract will end in January 2022. The day rate for this period has been increased to $260,000.

TotalEnergies has exercised a 370-day option for the Deepwater Skyros drillship in Angola. With a day rate of $195,000, the rig’s contract is set to end in December 2022.

The Discoverer Inspiration drillship has secured a nine-well contract with Hess Corporation for operations in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The gig starts in September 2021 and ends in April 2022 with a day rate of $215,000.

Transocean’s Dhirubhai Deepwater KG2 drillship has been awarded a one-well contract, plus two one-well options, with Shell in Brunei. The contract is set 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.

Transocean also said that the Petrobras 10000 drillship had won a two-year contract with Petrobras in Brazil. The rig’s current contract, also with Petrobras, with the day rate of $309,000 is scheduled to end in September 2021. After that, the new two-year deal will start in October 2021.

It is divided into three periods with different day rates. The first one, from October until March 2022, will have a day rate of $322,000. The second one, from March 2022 until March 2023, will have a day rate of $328,000. The third one, from March 2023 until October 2023, will have a day rate of $334,000.

POSCO has exercised two one-well options for the semi-submersible rig Deepwater Nautilus. As a result, instead of ending in August 2021, this contract is now set to end in November 2021 with a day rate of $135,000.

The Transocean-owned semi-sub has also won a one-well contract with an undisclosed operator from February until March 2022 with a day rate of $145,000.

The Transocean Norge semi-sub has secured a four-well contract, plus five one-well options, with ConocoPhillips in Norway. The deal starts in March and ends in September 2022 with a day rate of $280,000. The rig has recently completed its contract with Equinor in Norway with a day rate of $297,000.

Equinor has also exercised two one-well options in Norway for the Transocean Spitsbergen rig. Under these options, the rig will work for Equinor from June 2022 until September 2022 with a day rate of $290,000.

MOL Norge terminated its contract for convenience for the Transocean Barents semi-sub in Norway. The contract with MOL, with a day rate of $270,000, was supposed to end in December 2021. No termination penalty is applicable.

On the other hand, the rig has secured a two-well contract with Shell in Norway. It starts in February 2022 and ends in August 2022 with a day rate of $302,000. The two-well contract was previously announced in June without revealing the operator.

In related news, Transocean in June 2021 agreed with Sembcorp Marine’s subsidiary, Jurong Shipyard Pte Ltd (JSPL), on the delayed delivery of two ultra-deepwater drillships.