Transocean (RIG) Wins Multiple Contracts As Oil Prices Rise

Transocean Limited (NYSE:RIG) recently released its quarterly fleet status report stating that it has clinched four short-term contract extensions offshore Norway, Australia and Canada.

The first contract secured by Transocean is for its semi-submersible rig, GSF Development Driller I in Australia. The contract is an extension of the rig’s current work, which is scheduled to terminate in September 2018. Quadrant Energy intends to extend the contract, which will now deploy the rig for two more months — November and December. The day rate however remains undisclosed.

The second contract is for the drilling contractor’s Transocean Spitsbergen rig, for which Statoil (OL:STL) ASA (NYSE:STO) has exercised two one-well options in the Norwegian North Sea.

Thirdly, Transocean Aric Rig also landed a one-well contract, plus a one-well option in the Norwegian North Sea, with Faroe Petroleum. The rig will be in contract for two months, with work commencing from August 2018 at an undisclosed rate.

Lastly, Transocean’s Henry Goodrich rig, which is currently in contract with Husky Energy, will see the latter exercising its six-month option starting from May, to work offshore Eastern Canada.

With the massive recovery of crude prices from the historic lows, the commodity has been comfortably trading above $60 a barrel since the past couple of months. As a result, many energy companies are slowly increasing their spending on upstream projects, translating into more contracts for drilling giants like Transocean.

Transocean’s strong backlog, which stands at $12.5 billion, reflects steady demand from its customers. It enables Transocean to navigate the current uncertain environment, better than many of its peers.

However, the company is bearing the brunt of reduced dayrates that are putting pressure on its top line. Notably, the company’s revenues in 2017 stood at $2,973 million compared with $4,161 million in 2016. The latest fleet report depicts that Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) has reduced the dayrates for Transocean’s Deepwater Conqueror and Discoverer Inspiration, both the drillships operating in the Gulf of Mexico. The dayrate for the Deepwater Conqueror declined from $586,000 to $583,000 and that of the Discoverer Inspiration reduced from $571,000 to $566,000. Statoil has also reduced the dayrates for Transocean’s harsh environment rigs namely Songa Enabler, Songa Encourage, Songa Endurance and Songa Equinox.

Transocean carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Meanwhile, one can consider a better-ranked player within the same industry, namely Key Energy Services, Inc. (NYSE:KEG) , which sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Wall Street’s Next Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Zacks EVP Kevin Matras believes this familiar stock has only just begun its climb to become one of the greatest investments of all time. It’s a once-in-a-generation opportunity to invest in pure genius.

Click for details >>