Offshore drilling contractor Transocean has decided to scrap two semi-subs and idle two drillships and one semi-submersible drilling rig. The driller has also been awarded several new contracts.
In its latest fleet status report on Thursday the driller said that the deepwater semi-submersible M.G. Hulme, Jr. and the midwater semi-submersible GSF Rig 140 were classified as held for sale. The rigs will be recycled in an environmentally responsible manner, the company said.
Transocean has idled three rigs, the semi-sub Development Driller III , the drillship Discoverer India , and the drillship Deepwater Asgard . The driller’s semi-sub rig Transocean Barents has been idle since September 2015.
On December 31, 2016, the newbuild ultra-deepwater drillship Deepwater Conqueror started operations on its 5-year contract with Chevron in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico at a dayrate of $589,000.
The driller also informed that an unnamed customer has elected to exercise its contractual option to terminate the contract for the 2014-built ultra-deepwater drillship Deepwater Asgard effective January 2017. The company said it will be compensated for the early termination through a lump sum payment of approximately $79 million, which is based on the operating dayrate less the operating cost per day.
Furthermore, Australia’s Woodside has awarded a three-well contract offshore Myanmar to the 2010-built drillship Dhirubhai Deepwater KG2 with an undisclosed dayrate. The contract starts in February and ends in July 2017.
Hurricane Energy has exercised a one-well option for the 2010-built semi-sub Transocean Spitsbergen in the UK sector of the North Sea. The extension ends in March.
The 1990-built semi-sub Paul B. Loyd, Jr. has been awarded a contract extension of approximately 30 days by BP in the UK North Sea with an undisclosed dayrate. The rig’s previous dayrate was $443,000.
Estimated 2017 out of service days increased by 24 days due to contract preparation and mobilization associated with the Dhirubhai Deepwater KG2. As of February 9, 2017, the company’s contract backlog was $11.3 billion.
Offshore Energy Today Staff