US-listed drilling company Transocean Inc has deferred the delivery of two ultra-deepwater drillships being constructed at Singapore’s Sembcorp Marine.
According to Transocean’s fleet status report released on 22 June, it has deferred the delivery by two years.
IHS Maritime’s Sea-web.com data show the two drillships, labelled Jurong 11-1116 and Jurong 11-1117, were ordered in February 2014 and were supposed to be delivered from Sembcorp Marine’s Jurong Shipyard in May 2017 and February 2018.
Transocean said these vessels will now be delivered in the second quarter of 2019 and the first quarter of 2020.
Transocean’s decision comes after it chose in February to stall the delivery of five jackup rigs being constructed at Singapore’s Keppel FELS, by six months. The rigs, Transocean Cassiopeia, Transocean Centaurus, Transocean Cepheus, Transocean Cetus, and Transocean Circinus, were ordered in November 2013. IHS Maritime’s Sea-web.com shows the first three rigs will be delivered in February, July, and November of 2016 respectively, while Transocean Cetus and Transocean Circinus will be delivered in March and July 2017.
The drop in oil prices has caused oil majors to refrain from investing in new oil projects, opting instead to maintain production from existing fields.
Transocean explained its decision, “Among the three main types of drilling rigs, jackups are at higher risks of rescheduling or cancellation going by the ratio of unchartered units as a percentage of newbuilds under construction.
Two of Transocean’s rigs, jackup rig GSF Monarch and semisubmersible rig Transocean Spitsbergen, are idle. The Spitsbergen’s well programme ended 45 days early due to its efficient performance and Transocean will be compensated for an early contract termination.
Transocean has plans to recycle 20 floaters this year while another rig, the GSF Celtic Sea, would be either scrapped or sold for other purposes other than drilling.
DBS Vickers Securities analysts Yeo Kee Yan and Ling Lee Keng commented, “We expect the trend to continue. Among the three main type of drilling rigs, jackups are at higher risks of rescheduling or cancellation going by the ratio of unchartered units as a percentage of newbuilds under construction.”
This post was sourced from IHS Maritime 360: View the original article here.
