Transocean (RIG) Slaps Patent Infringement Charges on Noble
According to recent reports, offshore drilling giant Transocean Ltd. RIG has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against rig builder Noble Corp. NE, wherein it has accused the latter of infringing upon its dual-activity technology.
Transocean claims that Noble used its patented dual-activity technology to construct five of its drillships, namely the Bob Douglas, Don Taylor, Globetrotter I, Sam Croft, and Tom Madden. This technology was patented by Transocean on Mar 9, 2004 and helps in saving time and money in drilling offshore wells.
Noble’s rigs named in the lawsuit have dayrates that range from $275,000 to $643,000. Also, these rigs have been under contracts with Anadarko and supermajor Royal Dutch Shell RDS.A, to name a few.
In a separate announcement, Transocean announced that it has inked two accords with Schlumberger Limited SLB worth $350 million. Per the first agreement, Schlumberger will handle Transocean’s Cameron risers in the Gulf of Mexico. The contact also comprises activities like storage, maintenance, inspection, repair, recertification and data-driven riser management of rigs.
According to the second deal, Schlumberger will provide solutions for the maintenance of blowout preventer systems and associated pressure control equipment for nine ultra-deepwater rigs of Transocean that are capable of drilling in harsh environments.
Switzerland-based Transocean is the world’s largest offshore drilling contractor and leading provider of drilling management services. Year to date, the Zacks categorized Oil and Gas Drilling industry has registered an impressive growth of 19.36%. However, the Transocean stock has underperformed the industry by gaining only 17.53%.
Shell currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), which implies that the stock will outperform the broader U.S. equity market over the next one to three months.
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