Chevron contracts for 2nd Enterprise-class drillship from Transocean

Offshore staff

HOUSTON -- Chevron Corp. has awarded Transocean Inc. a second contract for construction of an Enterprise-class drillship. This follows Chevron's five-year contract with Transocean for construction of the Discoverer Clear Leader announced in March, and will be the third such contract for Transocean this year.

The rig will feature Transocean's patented dual-activity drilling technology along with a new, enhanced top drive system, an expanded high-pressure mud-pump system, expanded completions capabilities, and other unique features of the drillship target the drilling of wells up to 40,000 ft. TD. The rig will have a variable deckload of more than 20,000 metric tons while having the capability of drilling in water depths of up to 12,000 ft.

The contract can be converted to a three-year duration before September 2007. If it runs the full five years, the value will be about $862 million. The contract is scheduled to commence 1Q10 following construction, commissioning, and mobilization to the US Gulf of Mexico.

Construction of the dynamically positioned, double-hull drillship is scheduled for the Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co., Ltd. yard in Okpo, South Korea, where the two previously announced enhanced Enterprise-class drillships will be constructed. The estimated total capital expenditure for the unit is approximately $670 million, excluding capitalized interest.

9/1/06