Transocean Ltd. announced today that the harsh-environment semisubmersible Transocean Spitsbergen was awarded two contracts with Statoil. The estimated firm backlog associated with these contracts is $83 million, which excludes performance incentive opportunities, integrated services and mobilization. The initial contract is expected to commence in the third quarter of 2017.

The first contract is for three wells with an estimated duration of 90 days in the U.K. sector of the North Sea. This contract includes a priced option for an additional well with an estimated duration of 30 days. The second contract is for six wells with an estimated duration of one year in the Norwegian North Sea. This contract includes priced options for an additional six wells with an estimated total duration of 180 days.

"We are very pleased to contract the Transocean Spitsbergen with Statoil for multiple well programs in both the U.K. and Norway," said President and Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Thigpen. "The Spitsbergen has delivered some of the best harsh-environment wells in the industry, and we are excited to be contracting her in conjunction with an integrated package of related services. This arrangement furthers our strategic relationship with Statoil and again provides us the opportunity to exceed their drilling expectations."

About Transocean

Transocean (NYSE: RIG) 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 deepwater and harsh environment drilling services, and believes that it operates one of the most versatile offshore drilling fleets in the world.

Transocean owns or has partial ownership interests in, and operates a fleet of 56 mobile offshore drilling units consisting of 30 ultra-deepwater floaters, seven harsh-environment floaters, three deepwater floaters, six midwater floaters and 10 high-specification jackups. In addition, the company has four ultra-deepwater drillships and five high-specification jackups under construction or under contract to be constructed.

About Statoil

Statoil ASA (OSE: STL, NYSE: STO) is an international energy company with operations in 36 countries. Building on 40 years of experience from oil and gas production on the Norwegian continental shelf, we are committed to accommodating the world's energy needs in a responsible manner, applying technology and creating innovative business solutions. We are headquartered in Stavanger, Norway, with approximately 23,000 employees worldwide, and are listed on the Oslo and New York stock exchanges.