Offshore drilling contractor Transocean has sealed a one-well extension in the US Gulf of Mexico and a conditional letter of award in the UK North Sea.
The New York-listed firm said Murphy Oil had exercised its option for the 2014-built ultra-deepwater drillship, Deepwater Asgard at $395,000 per day. The deal closes the small gap before the rig moves to its next program, a one-year contract with an undisclosed operator at a rate of $440,000 per day in the first half of 2023.
Meanwhile, The Swiss-based offshore drilling giant is set to put pen to paper for the 2009-built semisub Transocean Barents by the end of the month. The contract with an unnamed operator in the UK is expected to commence in the first quarter of next year.
“The active market is nearly sold out for 2023, and we are seeing longer-term opportunities that have not been typical in the UK in recent years,” said Transocean chief executive Jeremy Thigpen, adding that in the near term it is likely shorter duration opportunities will require rigs to come from outside the country.
According to Thigpen, this would apply even more strain on the rig availability in Norway as the company anticipates the number of available high-spec rigs in the country to diminish very quickly. “Based on our internal analysis, we expect the Barents to be one of several rigs that will leave Norway in the next few months for work elsewhere,” he said.
