Inspenet, September 20, 2023.
Transocean has secured a new long-term contract for its newly built ultra-deepwater drilling vessel. This contract will allow the platform to work in partnership with a national oil company in Brazilian waters.
In the last quarter of 2022, the leading drilling company announced that in collaboration with Perestroika and funds managed by Lime Rock Management, it had closed an agreement to acquire the seventh generation vessel known as Deepwater Aquila (formerly West Aquila) for a total of 200 million dollars to Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME). It should be noted that this vessel is one of two originally ordered by Seadrill in 2013.
About the Transocean contract
The company has officially announced the obtaining of a three-year contract for this vessel , whose operation is scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2024 off the coast of Brazil. The value of this agreement amounts to approximately $486 million in firm commitments, excluding a mobilization fee that is approximately 90 times the daily contract rate.
Additionally, the company has reached an agreement to acquire outstanding interests in Liquila Ventures Ltd., an entity created for the purchase of the Deepwater Aquila drillship, from its joint venture partners, Perestroika and Lime Rock Partners. With this acquisition, the company will become the owner and operator of eight of the twelve ultra-deepwater drilling vessels with a short hook capacity of 1,400 tons existing worldwide.
The Deepwater Aquila platform is expected to leave the shipyard in October 2023.
Regarding the execution of the contract for the drilling platform and the purchase of the outstanding interests in Liquila Ventures, the company is evaluating various debt financing options to partially cover the expenses related to the acquisition of the vessel from the shipyard and for preparation before entering into the contract in Brazil.
During the second quarter of 2023, Transocean expanded its contract portfolio with the addition of several new agreements, increasing the total value to $9.2 billion. Towards the end of August 2023, the company secured another long-term contract to operate an ultra-deepwater drilling platform off the coast of India.
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