Contract backlog for offshore driller Transocean has been reduced due to changes in the drilling contract for one of its drilling rigs. The rig has been sent to a yard for repairs and will not earn during the first quarter of the year.
Transocean has reached an agreement with the incumbent customer to amend the drilling contract on the harsh environment semi-submersible Transocean Leader.
The driller explained that the rig experienced equipment breakdown that could not be repaired timely, providing the customer with the right to cancel the contract. However, given the otherwise efficient performance of the rig, the customer elected to complete its program with the Leader and Transocean agreed to amend the drilling contract, signed on Thursday and effective January 13, 2018, whereby the dayrate and contract duration were modified.
The rig is currently in the shipyard for these repairs and will not earn a dayrate during the first quarter of 2018. It is expected to return to work in April of 2018, for approximately 300 days, 210 of which are with the incumbent customer and 90 days with Dana Petroleum.
Contract backlog is reduced by approximately $112 million ($73 million in 2018 and the remainder in 2019) as a result of the contract renegotiation and a new fixture with Dana Petroleum.
According to the latest AIS data, the rig is currently located in Olen, Norway.
Transocean’s latest fleet status update issued last October, shows that the 1987-built Leader has been working for EnQuest in the UK North Sea since May 2015 with an end date in May 2018. The dayrate under this contract is $305,000.