Transocean, the Swiss offshore drilling giant, announced that India’s Reliance Industries has awarded its Dhirubhai Deepwater KG1 drillship a binding tender for the drilling of six wells offshore India.
Under the contract, the drillship Dhirubhai Deepwater KG1 will be chartered for a period of 300 days, with performance expected to commence in the second quarter of 2026, for a value of $123 million, excluding additional service and mobilization fees. In addition, the contract includes a number of options, all of which, if effective, would extend its lease to the end of 2029.
The 2009-built Dhirubhai Deepwater KG1 is currently providing services to Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and is expected to complete its contract in February 2026, at a daily rate of $347,500 million.
In addition to the above transactions, Transocean announced that it has entered into an agreement with a third party to sell two of its rigs, the Development Driller III and the Discoverer Inspiration, for a total of $342 million, priced at $195 million and $147 million respectively. The sale is related to Transocean’s ongoing non-strategic asset disposal program.
Both rigs have been idled for some time, the Development Driller III in Aruba since August 2023 and the Discoverer Inspiration in the Canary Islands since the first quarter of 2024 when it last operated. The “Discoverer Inspiration”, which last operated in 2023, has been idled in the Canary Islands since the first quarter of 2024.
Subject to customary closing conditions, the sale is expected to close in the third quarter of 2024.Transocean plans to use the majority of the proceeds to repay existing debt.