Transocean has been awarded 10-year contracts by Shell for four new-build dynamically-positioned ultra-deepwater drillships, with the first to be delivered in mid-2015.
The three further vessels are expected to be delivered from the Daewoo shipyards of South Korea at approximately six-month intervals following the first delivery.
The contracts are expected to kick in during 2015 and 2016 and contribute an estimated revenue backlog of $7.6billion to Transocean, excluding mobilisation.
The vessels are expected to cost a total of $3billion, excluding capitalised interest and contribute significantly to the ongoing modernisation of Transocean’s fleet.
In common with all current generation drillship new-builds, the four sisters will feature advanced capabilities and be capable of working water depths to 3,657m (12,000ft) and drill wells to 12,192m (40,000ft) depth.
At the heart of each will be Transocean’s patented dual-activity drilling technology. They will have a variable deck-load capacity of 23 tonnes and feature enhanced well completion capabilities.
Each of them will be kitted out with two 15,000-psi blowout preventers (BOPs), which are expected to reduce customer non-productive time between wells.
This batch will also be able to accommodate a future upgrade to a 20,000-psi BOP, when it becomes available.
They will feature power/generation and propulsion engines configured to comply with anticipated Tier III International Maritime Organisation (IMO) emissions standards.
Commenting on the long-term Shell package, Transocean’s president/CEO, Steve Newman, said: “These contracts add 40 years of rig work to our revenue backlog, expand and upgrade our ultra-deepwater fleet, improve our fleet mix, and provide an opportunity to expand our relationship with an important customer with which we have 40 years of experience in advancing the state-of-the-art in offshore drilling technology.”
Peter Sharpe of Shell said that the Transocean contracts formed a part of the super-major’s plan to develop its deepwater operations and ensure that contracted rigs are up-to-date and hired at “fair market rates”
The two companies are collaborating on the design, including seeking compliance with “the highest industry standards for safety, operations, and environmental protection” for drilling deepwater wells.
Transocean already has an extensive new-build programme. Daewoo has so far built five enhanced enterprise-class rigs for the company and currently has two other ultra-deepwater drillships under construction.
Construction on the first of the new batch of seventh generation drillships is expected to start late next year.
Meanwhile, one of Transocean’s competitors, Ocean Rig of Norway, has signed a contract with Samsung Heavy Industries for a further seventh generation, ultra-deepwater drillship.
This latest order by Ocean Rig will bring the tally of sister vessels to eight of which four have been built and are at work. It will essentially be a copy of the current batch of three on order with Samsung.
Ocean Rig owns and operates 10 offshore ultra-deepwater drilling units, comprising of two ultra-deepwater semi-submersibles and eight ultra-deepwater drillships, three of which remain to be delivered to the company during 2013 and one in 2015.
One of the semi-subs, Leiv Eirikson, is currently drilling for a consortium comprising Falklands Oil & Gas, Noble and Edison. At the time of writing it had suspended drilling operations on the Scotia-1 well because of the need for repairs to its BOP system.