HOUSTON, Oct. 29, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Transocean Inc. (NYSE:RIG) today announced that a five-year contract has been executed with a client for a previously announced ultra-deepwater newbuild drillship equipped for drilling in up to 10,000 feet of water depth, upgradable to 12,000 feet of water depth with additional equipment, and constructing wells up to 40,000 feet total depth. The rig is listed in the Transocean Fleet Update Report dated August 5, 2008, along with nine other announced ultra-deepwater newbuild units, as the "HHI Drillship TBN (to be named)."
The five-year drilling contract is expected to commence in the fourth quarter of 2010, following shipyard construction. The contract commencement date is contingent on vendor performance and other factors. Contracted revenues related to the five-year contract term are approximately $1.17 billion to $1.19 billion, depending on countries of operation during the contract term. Estimated contract revenues represent the maximum amount of revenues that may be earned, excluding revenues for cost escalations, customer reimbursed equipment and miscellaneous adjustments.
Construction of the unnamed dynamically positioned, double-hull drillship is scheduled to take place at the Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard in Ulsan, South Korea, with the first steel cutting scheduled in January 2009. The estimated total capital expenditure for the drillship, is approximately $740 million, excluding customer reimbursed equipment and capitalized interest. The rig design is an enhanced version of Transocean's C.R. Luigs and Jack Ryan-class drill ship designs. It will feature Transocean's patented dual-activity drilling technology, allowing for parallel drilling operations designed to save time and money in deepwater well construction, compared with conventional rigs. It will also feature a third load path through a 165-metric-ton Active Heave Compensating Crane for subsea construction activity. The rig will also have expanded completion capabilities and a variable load of 20,000 metric tons.
Statements regarding the ultra-deepwater newbuild rig, operating specifications, contract durations, contract commencement dates, the actual amount of contract revenues, capital expenditures, duration and location of construction, timing and duration of maintenance and mobilization, area of operations, as well as any other statements that are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements that involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. These include but are not limited to operating hazards and delays, actions by customers and other third parties, factors affecting the duration of contracts including well-in-progress provisions, the actual amount of downtime including shipyard and maintenance projects, factors resulting in dayrates lower than the contractual dayrate, the future price of oil and gas and other factors detailed in the company's most recent Form 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which are available free of charge on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those indicated.
Transocean Inc. is the world's largest offshore drilling contractor and the leading provider of drilling management services worldwide. With a fleet of 137 mobile offshore drilling units plus 10 announced ultra-deepwater newbuild units, the company's fleet is considered one of the most modern and versatile in the world due to its emphasis on technically demanding segments of the offshore drilling business. The company owns or operates a contract drilling fleet of 39 High-Specification Floaters (Ultra-Deepwater, Deepwater and Harsh-Environment semisubmersibles and drillships), 29 Midwater Floaters, 10 High-Specification Jackups, 55 Standard Jackups and other assets utilized in the support of offshore drilling activities worldwide.
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