Transocean Presents Fleet Status

Offshore drilling giant Transocean Ltd. (RIG - Analyst Report) issued a monthly ‘Fleet Update Summary’ covering the company’s drilling rig status and contract information.

Per the report, the company’s high specification deepwater floater Sedco 704 won a two-year contract from Chevron Corporation (CVX - Analyst Report) to operate in the U.K. sector of the North Sea. The rig is expected to work from July 2012 at a current dayrate of $310,000, up from the prior dayrate of $280,000.

Transocean’s standard jackup Trident XIV received a two-year contract and will operate in the waters of Angola. The rig was also contracted by Chevron at a dayrate of $116,000, higher than the previous dayrate of $102,000.

The company’s high specification ultra-deepwater jackup Deepwater Nautilus received a five-year contract extension from Royal Dutch Shell plc (RDS.A - Analyst Report) to work in the Gulf of Mexico waters. The contract is executable from August 2012, at a lower dayrate of $525,000, against a prior dayrate of $551,000.

Another drillship – Sedco 702 – got a three-year extension of its existing contract and will operate in offshore Nigeria. The rig was contracted by Shell at a dayrate of $461,000, higher than the previous dayrate of $357,000.

Transocean also received an extension for Paul B. Loyd, Jr. drillship – working in the U.K. waters of North Sea – from BP plc (BP - Analyst Report) for a higher dayrate of $440,000 versus the older rate of $345,000.

Effective May 31, 2012, Transocean gained the 100% ownership right of Dhirubhai Deepwater KG1 and Dhirubhai Deepwater KG2 – which were previously equally shared through a joint venture.

However, jackup GSF Adriatic II has been sold, and hence will no longer be part of the company’s fleet.

Leading offshore drilling contractor and the provider of drilling management services globally, Transocean’s current contract drilling fleet comprises 130 mobile offshore drilling facilities that include 50 high-specification deepwater floaters, 25 midwater floaters, 10 high-specification jackups, 44 standard jackups and one swamp barge in support of offshore drilling activities across the globe.

We are maintaining our long-term Neutral recommendation on the stock. Transocean currently retains a Zacks #3 Rank, which translates into a short-term Hold rating.