Offshore drilling giant Transocean has secured contracts for ultra-deepwater drillships the Ocean Rig Corcovado and Ocean Rig Mykonos with Brazil’s Petrobras.
The Ocean Rig Corcovado has been awarded a 629-day contract, while Mykonos has secured 550-day contract.
The estimated firm contract backlog, excluding mobilization, is approximately $123 million for the Ocean Rig Corcovado and $118 million for the Ocean Rig Mykonos, meaning that the dayrate for the Mykonos is higher (around $214.500) compared to the Ocean Rig Corcovado’s ($195.500).
The two Samsung-built rigs are expected to start work in Brazil in November 2019 and the contracts include priced options for 680 days and 815 days, respectively.
“We are very pleased to have so quickly secured contracts for the Mykonos and Corcovado, two of the high-specification ultra-deepwater drillships acquired as part of the Ocean Rig transaction last December,” said President and Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Thigpen.
“These contracts further solidify our long-standing partnership with Petrobras, and will expand our rig operations in the strategically important market of Brazil. With three rigs operating in the region, we intend to benefit from efficiencies that can only be derived from building scale in this market.”
The Ocean Rig Mykonos, idle since April 2018, and Ocean Rig Corcovado, idle since June 2018, are warm-stacked in Las Palmas, Spain. This is not the first time the two drillships will work in Brazil with Petrobras, but it is the first time under Transocean. Petrobras had used the two drillships back in 2012, when the dayrates were much higher, at around $600.000.
Transocean acquired the rigs as part of the acquisition of the rival Ocean Rig in 2018.
Transocean closed the acquisition of Ocean Rig on December 5, 2018. The transaction added eight high-specification ultra-deepwater drillships and two harsh environment semi-submersibles to the Transocean fleet.
In addition, the acquisition included two high-specification ultra-deepwater drillships, the Ocean Rig Santorini and Ocean Rig Crete, currently under construction at the Geoje Samsung shipyard in South Korea. They are estimated to be delivered in 3Q 2019 and 3Q 2020, respectively.
Offshore Energy Today Staff