Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) announced that the newbuild ultra-deepwater drillship Petrobras 10000 has commenced operations in Angola for a subsidiary of Petrobras under a 10-year drilling contract. Transocean has an agreement with the P&M Drilling International B.V. joint venture of Petrobras and Mitsui to acquire the rig under a 20-year capital lease contract.
The Petrobras 10000 is one of 21 Ultra-Deepwater Floaters in the Transocean fleet. The rig features 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. Other features include expanded completions capabilities, a variable deck-load of more than 20,000 metric tons and the capability of development and exploration drilling in greater than 10,000 feet of water depth.