Daewoo wins Transocean drillship

Chevron Corporation has awarded the Houston-based offshore drilling company, Transocean Inc., a drilling contract for the construction of an enhanced Enterprise-class drillship. The enhanced Enterprise-class drillship, to be named the ?Discoverer Clear Leader?, is being designed to include the most advanced drilling capabilities in the offshore drilling industry, building on Transocean’s successful Enterprise-class drillship design and the company’s industry-leading position in the ownership and operation of high-specification mobile offshore drilling units for deepwater and harsh environment drilling applications.

Construction of the 254.40 m. long, 38 m. wide dynamically positioned, double-hull drillship newbuilding is scheduled to take place at the Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering yard in Okpo, South Korea, with an estimated total capital expenditure of approximately $650 million. The ?Discoverer Clear Leader? 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. The dual-activity technology, along with a new and 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 feet of total depth. The rig will have a variable deckload of more than 20,000 tonnes and will be capable of drilling in water depths of up to 12,000 feet.

Delivery is scheduled in 2008.