Transocean rigs find more work in Australia and Norway

Offshore drilling contractor Transocean has secured a new contract and an extension for two semi-submersible rigs in Australia and Norway.

Transocean announced contract fixtures for two of its harsh environment semi-submersible rigs on Wednesday, 29 March 2023, representing approximately $113 million in firm contract backlog.

Jeremy Thigpen, Transocean’s Chief Executive Officer, remarked: “These fixtures represent additional evidence of the strength of this cyclical recovery, notably for our harsh environment assets.”

According to the firm, the Transocean Endurance rig was awarded a multi-well plug and abandonment contract in Australia with an undisclosed independent operator. The estimated 240-day contract is expected to start in January 2024.

Transocean explains that the contract will contribute approximately $91 million in backlog, excluding fees for mobilisation while also providing a series of options, potentially keeping the rig in Australia through the fourth quarter of 2025.

The 2015-built Transocean Endurance is a semi-submersible rig of GVA 4000 NCS design. It can accommodate 130 people. The rig’s maximum drilling depth is 27,887 ft.

Regarding the contract extension for another rig, the firm highlights that Wintershall Dea exercised a one-well option on the Transocean Norge rig for operations in Norway. This is expected to begin in May 2023 ahead of the existing firm term for 60 days and contribute approximately $22 million in backlog.

Back in September 2022, the rig secured a 17-well contract in Norway at day rates between $350,000 and $430,000 after two oil and gas companies, Wintershall Dea and OMV, entered into an exclusive partnership with Transocean for the use of this rig for the drilling of all firm and additional potential wells in the period 2023 to 2027.

The Transocean Norge sixth-generation Moss Maritime CS60 semi-submersible rig was constructed at Jurong Shipyard in Singapore. This rig can accommodate 150 people and its maximum drilling depth is 40,000 ft.

“Coupled with the awards for the Transocean Enabler and Transocean Encourage that were recently announced, we have added an incremental $494 million in backlog from our high-specification harsh environment fleet,” concluded Thigpen.

While Equinor handed out more work to Transocean’s Transocean Encourage rig mainly for operations in the Norwegian Sea, the Transocean Enabler rig got a drilling assignment at the Johan Castberg field.