New drillships begin service in 2009

Construction of Transocean’s Discoverer Clear Leader drillship, among the first of its ten newbuild rigs to commence work, is nearing completion at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering in Okpo, South Korea. The new drillship is rated for use in 10,000-ft water depth (upgradeable to 12,000 ft) and is capable of drilling to 37,000 ft (upgradeable to 40,000 ft), with accommodations for 200 people, Fig 1. Besides Transocean’s patented dual-activity drilling technology, the new drillship also has the following features:

• New and enhanced top-drive system
• Expanded HP mud-pump system
• Expanded completions capabilities
• Variable deckload of approximately 20,000 metric tons.

Fig. 1. Transocean’s new enterprise-class drillship, Discoverer Clear Leader.

Due to its ability to store and offload up to 125,000 bbl of produced well fluids, the new drillship can conduct extended well tests without the need for flaring or additional tankers to hold the test fluids. The drillship has undergone marine and drilling systems commissioning, as well as sea trials and integration testing. After delivery to Chevron and following crew familiarization and mobilization, and subsequent final client acceptance, the Discoverer Clear Leader is expected to begin operations in the second quarter of 2009.

Following shipyard delivery, crew familiarization, mobilization and final client acceptance, the Dhirubhai Deepwater KG1 and Dhirubhai Deepwater KG2 drillships are expected to begin operations in the third quarter of 2009 and first quarter of 2010 respectively. The KG1 and KG2 are rated for 12,000-ft and 10,000-ft water depths, and have accommodations for 172 and 200 people, respectively. The new drillships’ other features include National Oilwell Varco’s drilling packages that include advanced offshore drilling technology, including significant offline tubular-handling and stand-building capabilities. Also included are advanced systems for building, storing and running several subsea trees and efficient riser and BOP handling systems. With Reliance Industries as the customer, Transocean will own 50% of the drillships through a joint venture with Pacific Drilling Ltd.