Deepwater Pathfinder Awarded 11-Well Nigerian Contract

Transocean Inc. said that its ultra-deepwater drillship, Deepwater Pathfinder, has been awarded an 11-well exploration program offshore Nigeria under a drilling services sharing agreement between Nigerian subsidiaries of Devon Energy, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell.

The estimated 475-day exploration program is expected to commence by December 2004, following the rig's completion of a drilling project in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and estimated 30-day mobilization to Nigeria. Revenues of approximately $90 million could be generated over the 475-day program, exclusive of revenues for mobilization and demobilization of the rig.

The Deepwater Pathfinder is a dynamically positioned, ultra-deepwater drillship capable of operating in water depths of up to 10,000 feet. The rig entered service in 1998 following construction in the Samsung Shipyard in Korea. The rig is one of 28 High-Specification Floaters in the Transocean fleet, 17 of which are capable of drilling in water depths of 7,000 ft. or greater.