Equinor has entered into a letter of intent with Transocean for the use of three Cat D rigs on the Norwegian continental shelf. The agreement is worth around USD 1 billion and will contribute to reducing well costs, accelerating the delivery of new wells and maintaining high production towards 2035.

The contract value includes mobilisation and is calculated based on a day rate below USD 400,000 over seven rig years. The agreement applies to the Cat D rigs Transocean Enabler (three years), Transocean Encourage (two years) and Transocean Endurance (two years). Integrated drilling services are optional and not included in the rate. The work scope for the rigs has not yet been allocated.

“We are pleased to have secured rig capacity on competitive terms to deliver on our production plans towards 2035. These are flexible rigs that can, among other things, be used to drill subsea projects and increased recovery wells. This is essential to maintaining high production from the Norwegian continental shelf and stable energy deliveries to Europe,” says Jannicke Nilsson, chief procurement officer in Equinor.

Globally, the ambition is to deliver more than 125 wells annually, around 75 subsea projects and approximately 200 well plugging operations towards 2035.

“Our ambition for the Norwegian continental shelf is production of 1.3 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2035. Around 70 per cent of that production will come from new wells. We have now secured three strong workhorses that we know well. The rigs will strengthen our ability to deliver more wells faster and more cost-effectively, while maintaining a high safety level,” says Rune Nedregaard, senior vice president for Wells.

The Cat D rigs are semi-submersible floating rigs, adapted to Norwegian winter conditions and originally built on order from Equinor. They have operated on the Norwegian continental shelf since they were completed at the yard in 2015 and 2016. Transocean Endurance has operated in Australia since 2023 and is now being brought back to Norway, increasing rig capacity on the Norwegian continental shelf.

About Equinor

Equinor ASA is an international energy company headquartered in Norway. The company employs around 21,000 people worldwide. Equinor is already one of the world's most CO2-efficient producers of oil and gas. Equinor leverages strong synergies between oil, gas, renewables, carbon capture and hydrogen. Equinor participates in a consortium that has started the construction of the Northern Lights project, the world’s first full-scale and open-source CO2 transportation and storage project. The company has a growing portfolio in offshore wind with wind farms in Europe and the USA and is involved in various hydrogen projects throughout Europe.

About Transocean

Transocean is a leading international provider of offshore contract drilling services for oil and gas wells. The company specializes in technically demanding sectors of the global offshore drilling business with a particular focus on ultra-deepwater and harsh environment drilling services and operates the highest specification floating offshore drilling fleet in the world.

Transocean owns or has partial ownership interests in and operates a fleet of 27 mobile offshore drilling units, consisting of 20 ultra-deepwater floaters and seven harsh environment floaters.