Pacific Drilling Limited News

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) announced that the newbuild ultra-deepwater drillship Dhirubhai Deepwater KG2, which is owned by a joint venture with Pacific Drilling Limited, has commenced operations for Reliance Industries in India under a five-year drilling contract. The dynamically positioned Dhirubhai Deepwater KG2, one of 24 Ultra-Deepwater Floaters in the Transocean fleet, includes the most advanced drilling capabilities in the offshore drilling industry. The vessel features National Oilwell Varco drilling packages, significant off-line tubular-handling and stand-building capabilities, advanced mud system designs, systems for building, storing and running several subsea trees and efficient riser and BOP (blowout preventer) handling systems.

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) announced that the newbuild ultra-deepwater drillship Discoverer Americas has commenced operations in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico for Statoil Gulf of Mexico, a subsidiary of Statoil ASA, under a four-year drilling contract. The dynamically positioned double-hulled Discoverer Americas is an enhanced version of Transocean's three predecessor Enterprise-class drillships, which have set deepwater drilling records in recent years, including the world water-depth drilling record of 10,011 feet set by the Discoverer Deep Seas in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. One of 22 Ultra-Deepwater Floaters in the Transocean fleet, the Discoverer Americas features Transocean's patented dual-activity drilling technology…

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) announced that the ultra-deepwater drillship Dhirubhai Deepwater KG1 has commenced operations in India under a five-year drilling contract with Reliance Industries Limited. The company currently expects that Reliance will sublet the rig for the first four years of the contract to Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited, and that Reliance will operate the rig for the fifth year of the contract. The Dhirubhai Deepwater KG1 is the first of two ultra-deepwater newbuild drillships owned by a joint venture company with Pacific Drilling Limited and scheduled to commence operations in 2009 and 2010. The second ultra-deepwater newbuild drillship Dhirubhai Deepwater KG2 is also contracted and is scheduled to commence operations in 2010.

Transocean Inc. announced that the ultra-deepwater drillship Dhirubhai Deepwater KG2 (formerly Deepwater Pacific 2), which is owned by a joint venture in which the company has 50 percent interest, has been awarded a five-year drilling contract from Reliance Industries. The contract is expected to commence in the first quarter 2010 following shipyard construction, sea trials, mobilization to and customer acceptance. Contract revenues which could be generated over the first six months and remaining 54 months of the contract period are estimated to be $90 million and $838 million, respectively. In addition, Transocean announced that the first ultra-deepwater drillship owned by the joint venture…

Transocean Inc. announced that a subsidiary has exercised its option to purchase a 50 percent interest in a joint venture company with Pacific Drilling Limited. The joint venture company will own two ultra-deepwater Samsung-design drillships that are currently under construction in South Korea. Under the terms of an exclusive marketing agreement, the subsidiary has secured a long-term drilling commitment for the first joint venture drillship. The purchase price for Transocean's 50 percent interest in the joint venture and a promissory note issued by the joint venture was approximately $238 million, which represents half of the total costs incurred for the two joint venture drillships through the date of the option exercise.