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.
Deepwater Nautilus rig; Source: Transocean
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.