By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, June 24 -- Transocean Inc.'s subsidiaries reached an agreement with subsidiaries of Petrobras and Mitsui to acquire a newbuild ultradeepwater drillship under a capital lease contract.

The currently unnamed newbuild is under construction at Samsung Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. yard in Geoje, South Korea.

Costs to be incurred by Petrobras and Mitsui for the drillship's construction are estimated at $750 million.

The rig will feature Transocean's patented dual-activity drilling technology, allowing for parallel drilling operations in deepwater well construction, compared with conventional rigs.

Transocean said the rig will have a variable deckload of more than 20,000 tonnes and the capability of development and exploration drilling in greater than 10,000 ft of water, upgradeable to 12,500 ft of water. With additional equipment, it can drill to 37,500 ft total depth.

In conjunction with the 20-year capital lease contract, subsidiaries of Petrobras and Transocean signed a 10-year drilling contract covering worldwide operations. They also retain an option to extend the drilling contract by as long as 10 additional years.