Transocean's 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. The drillship has a variable deckload of approximately 20,000 metric tons and is equipped to work in water depths of up to 12,000 feet and outfitted to construct wells up to 35,000 feet deep.

In addition to the Dhirubhai Deepwater KG2 and five newbuild units placed into service last year, Transocean has four newbuild Ultra-Deepwater Floaters in various stages of construction or preparation for initial contracts which are scheduled to commence operations in 2010 and 2011. Those four units are the Discoverer Inspiration, the Discoverer India, the Discoverer Luanda (the latter owned by a joint venture company with Angco Cayman Limited) and the Deepwater Champion.

Tags: Transocean Inc.