Transocean drillship’s Gulf of Mexico drilling campaign extended by 365 days

Offshore drilling giant Transocean has picked up a long-term, multi-million contract extension in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico for an ultra-deepwater drillship working for Hess Corporation, a U.S.-based oil and gas player.

The 365-day contract extension for the Deepwater Asgard drillship in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico is slated to start in June 2024 in direct continuation of the rig’s current program and entails additional services.

While the total contract value is approximately $195 million, this includes a $10.9 million lump sum payment, which is not included in the estimated backlog of around $184 million.

The 2014-built Deepwater Asgard ultra-deepwater dual-activity drillship is of DSME 12000 design and can accommodate 200 people. With a maximum drilling depth of 40,000 ft, the rig can undertake activities in water depths of up to 12,000 ft.

According to Transocean’s fleet status report from February 2024, the drillship has been on a day rate of $440,000 since April 2023. The rig’s previous day rate was $395,000.

The offshore drilling heavyweight had another prosperous year in 2023, getting hold of a $3.2 billion boost in contract backlog, due to a batch of new assignments for its rig fleet.