Transocean secures five-year contract for DP2 UDW drillship from Chevron
Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) (SIX: RIGN) has been awarded a five-year contract for a newbuild dynamically positioned ultra-deepwater drillship by Chevron U.S.A. Inc. Shipyard delivery is scheduled for the second quarter of 2016. After customer acceptance, the contract is expected to commence in the fourth quarter of 2016, contributing an estimated revenue backlog of approximately $1.1 billion, excluding mobilization, the Company said Tuesday in a press release.
Excluding capitalized interest, the capital investment for the newbuild drillship is an estimated $725 million. Capital costs include the shipyard contract; project management; all owner-furnished equipment; capital spares and inventory; and all costs associated with operational readiness.
Featuring state-of-the-art equipment, the newbuild drillship will include Transocean's patented dual-activity drilling technology that allows for parallel drilling operations. The vessel will be outfitted with two 15,000 psi blowout preventers (BOPs) which are expected to reduce non-productive time between wells. The drillship will be able to accommodate a future upgrade to a 20,000 psi BOP when it becomes available from the OEM suppliers. The rig will also feature an industry-leading 2.5-million-pound hook load capacity, a variable deckload capacity of 23,000 metric tons, enhanced well-completion capabilities and diesel engines configured to comply with anticipated Tier III International Maritime Organization (IMO) emissions standards. The drillship is designed and outfitted to operate in water depths of up to 12,000 feet and drill wells to 40,000 feet. In addition, the drillship will have accommodations for 240 people.
Construction of the newbuild drillship is expected to commence during the fourth quarter of 2014 at the Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co., Ltd. facility in Okpo, South Korea, where Transocean's five Enhanced Enterprise-Class rigs were built and where the company currently has six other ultra-deepwater drillships under construction.
About Transocean
Transocean is a leading international provider of offshore contract drilling services for oil and gas wells. The company specializes in technically demanding sectors of the global offshore drilling business with a particular focus on deepwater and harsh environment drilling services, and believes that it operates one of the most versatile offshore drilling fleets in the world.
Transocean owns or has partial ownership interests in, and operates a fleet of, 79 mobile offshore drilling units consisting of 46 High-Specification Floaters (Ultra-Deepwater, Deepwater and Harsh-Environment drilling rigs), 22 Midwater Floaters and 11 High-Specification Jackups. In addition, including the newbuild drillship announced today, we have seven Ultra-Deepwater Drillships and one High-Specification Jackup under construction
