Transocean rigs pick up drilling gigs in Angola, Gulf of Mexico, and Black Sea

Offshore drilling contractor Transocean has secured more work for three floaters in its rig fleet, enabling it to collect $326 million for assignments in Angola, the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, and the Black Sea.

Within its quarterly fleet status report, Transocean revealed a new long-term job for a semi-submersible rig in the Black Sea, a contract extension in Angola for one of the drillships in its fleet of offshore drilling rigs, and a new assignment for another drillship in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

In line with this, the Transocean Barents semi-submersible rig has won a minimum 540-day contract with OMV Petrom in the Romanian Black Sea at a day rate of $465,000. This drilling assignment is slated to start in January 2025, contributing around $251 million in backlog, excluding full compensation for mobilization and a demobilization fee.

Ten wells are expected to be drilled as part of the Neptun Deep gas development project. Located at about 160 km from the shore, in waters between 100 and 1,000 meters, the Neptun Deep block in the Black Sea covers an area of ​​7,500 square km. The carbon footprint of this project is estimated to be around 2.2 kg CO2/boe, which is below the industry average of 16.7 kg CO2/boe.

The 2009-built Transocean Barents rig is of Aker H-6e design. The rig, which was constructed at Aker Kvaerner Stord, can accommodate 140 people. This semi-sub is capable of operating in water depths of up to 10,000 ft and its maximum drilling depth is 30,000 ft.

Furthermore, the Deepwater Skyros drillship has been awarded a three-well extension in Angola by TotalEnergies at a day rate of $400,000. This scope of work will begin in January 2025, in direct continuation of the rig’s existing contract.

The 2013-built Deepwater Skyros drillship, which is of Samsung 12000 design, can accommodate 215 people. With a maximum drilling depth of 40,000 ft, the rig can carry out activities in water depths up to 12,000 ft.

Transocean also got a 40-day contract with an undisclosed company for the Deepwater Invictus drillship in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The 2014-built Deepwater Invictus DSME 12000 ultra-deepwater drillship is capable of operating at 12,000 feet of water depth and drilling to depths of 40,000 feet. This rig can accommodate 200 people.

Taking into account the aggregate incremental backlog of about $326 million, which is associated with these assignments, Transocean’s total backlog was approximately $9 billion on February 14, 2024. The firm got its hands on multiple new assignments and contract extensions for its rig fleet last year.

Recently, one of Transocean’s rigs became the first semi-submersible to sport DNV’s Abate (Power+) notation. After reviewing the available day rate information, Offshore Energy concluded that Transocean earned the top spot as the highest-paid offshore drilling contractor in 2H 2023.