Transocean Limited RIG, the U.S.-based offshore driller, has confirmed that two of its drillships have won contract extensions worth $248 million in its latest fleet status report.

The drillship Deepwater Asgard has prolonged its stay with Hess Corporation in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The contract has been extended for another year at a fixed day rate of $505,000. The work for this extension is slated to begin in June 2024, in continuation of the rig’s current program. The drillship’s previous day rate was $395,000, and its current day rate is fixed at $440,000.

The Deepwater Asgard is an ultra-deepwater dual-activity DSME 12000 drillship. It has a maximum drilling depth of 40,000 feet and can accommodate up to 200 people. The drillship is operational in a depth of up to 12,000 ft underwater.

Transocean has secured another contract extension with TotalEnergies, which has exercised a three-well option for RIG’s drillship Deepwater Skyros in Angola. This contract extension is scheduled to commence in July 2025 in direct continuation of the rig’s current contract. The day rate for the extension is fixed at $400,000. The rig’s work with Total Energies is scheduled to be concluded by December 2025.

The Deepwater Skyros Samsung 12000 drillship has a maximum drilling depth of up to 40,000 feet. It has the capacity to accommodate up to 215 people and is operational in water depths up to 12,000 ft.

These contract extensions are a significant addition to the company’s backlog. As of Apr 17, 2024, RIG’s total backlog was $8.9 billion. In lieu of the drilling market upcycle, Transocean has landed several new assignments for its rig fleet, adding $3.2 billion in its contract backlog last year.

Transocean specializes in providing offshore drilling services in the technically challenging sectors within the global offshore drilling industry, with a focus on deepwater and harsh environment drilling services.

Zacks Rank and Key Picks

Currently, RIG has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the energy sector are SM Energy SM, Hess Corporation HES and Sunoco LP SUN. SM Energy and Hess presently sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) each, while Sunoco carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

SM Energy is an upstream energy firm operating in the prolific Midland Basin region and the South Texas region. For 2024, the company expects its production to increase from the prior- year reported figure, signaling a bright production outlook.



Hess is a leading upstream energy company with its operations focused on the prolific resources offshore Guyana. The company has made significant oil discoveries in the Stabroek Block, off the coast of Guyana. These discoveries have totaled more than 11 billion barrels of oil equivalent in gross recoverable resources, adding to Hess’ production potential.

Sunoco LP is one of the largest distributors of motor fuel in the United States. The partnership distributes fuel to independent dealers, commercial customers, convenience stores as well as distributors. Its current distribution yield is greater than that of the composite stocks in the industry, providing unitholders with consistent returns.

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