ZUG, Switzerland, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- Rig developer Transocean Ltd. said it secured a contract from energy company Chevron to build an drillship for ultradeep waters.
Transocean, which has headquarters in Switzerland, said Chevron contracted it to build a drillship designed to operate in water as deep as 12,000 feet and drill to 40,000 feet.
"We are delighted to continue our partnership with Chevron in pioneering ultra-deepwater drillships that in the past have set world records and achieved strong utilization with time-saving efficiencies," Steven Newman, president and chief executive officer of Transocean, said in a statement Tuesday.
Transocean in July set a world record for deep offshore operations with its Dhirubhai Deepwater KG1 drillship. The rig drilled in 10,411 feet of water off the coast of India.
Transocean said the Chevron rig represents a capital investment of $725 billion. Construction is set for the fourth quarter 2014 at a shipbuilding facility in South Korea. Delivery is expected by the second quarter of 2016.
Transocean leased the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform to BP. That rig caught fire and sank when the Macondo well in deep waters in the Gulf of Mexico blew out in 2010, causing one of the worst offshore oil spills in the history of the industry.
