Transocean secures contracts for nine rigs, boosts backlog to $7.3 billion
In its most recent fleet status report, released 21 July, Transocean announced new contracts for five drillships and four semisubmersibles.
Among those deals was a one-well option with BHP for the Deepwater Invictus drillship in the US Gulf of Mexico. The option extends the contract to January 2022 and increases the dayrate to $260,000. TotalEnergies also exercised a 370-day option for the Deepwater Skyros drillship in Angola at a $195,000 dayrate – that rig’s contract is set to end in December 2022.
The Dhirubhai Deepwater KG2 drillship was awarded a one-well contract with Shell for work offshore Brunei. The contract, which includes two one-well options, is set to begin and end in December 2021, and it has a dayrate of $190,000. Transocean also received a contract from Hess for its Discoverer Inspiration drillship – that work will begin in September 2021 at a $215,000 dayrate.
The Petrobras 10000 drillship won a two-year contract with Petrobras in Brazil. The two-year deal, which is set to begin in October following the expiration of the rig’s current contract with Petrobras, will have different dayrates divided over three periods. From October 2021 to March 2022, the dayrate will be $322,000. From March 2022 to March 2023, the dayrate will be $328,000. Fro mMarch 2023 to October 2023, the dayrate will be $334,000.
POSCO exercised two one-well options for the Deepwater Nautilus semisubmersible. The contract will now end in November 2021 – it was previously set to expire in August – at a dayrate of $135,000. The Transocean Norge semisub netted a four-well contract, plus five one-well options, with ConocoPhillips for work offshore Norway at a dayrate of $280,000. Equinor also exercised two one-well options in Norway for the Transocean Spitsbergen semisub. The options will last from June to September 2022 at a $290,000 dayrate.
