New York, February 12, 2026, 06:38 (EST) — Premarket
- Transocean picked up roughly 1.3% before the bell, following news of a contract update in Norway.
- The filing listed about $184 million in firm backlog connected to two harsh-environment rigs.
- Next up for investors: the earnings release and fleet status report hitting on Feb. 19.
Transocean Ltd climbed 1.3% to $6.08 before the bell at 6:13 a.m. EST, after the offshore driller announced firm backlog commitments totaling roughly $184 million for two harsh-environment semisubmersibles in Norway. A regulatory filing showed the Transocean Encourage secured a seven-well extension valued at about $152 million. The Transocean Enabler landed two one-well options totaling $32 million. 1
This extra backlog comes in just as Transocean works to rein in leverage and boost cash flow—right in the middle of its pursuit of a much larger deal. “We know that our debt level negatively impacts our equity value. This transaction addresses that,” CEO Keelan Adamson told analysts on a call earlier this week, following news of the company’s all-stock plan to acquire Valaris. 2
Backlog refers to contracted work that’s still waiting to be done — essentially, booked revenue you can actually see coming. For traders, it’s a shorthand for gauging how much cushion a driller has if fresh deals start to dry up.
Leslie Cook at Wood Mackenzie flagged the Valaris deal as a sign that organic growth is scarce in the market. She also noted, “rig owners will gain pricing power” as things get tighter out there. 3
Transocean and Valaris are framing the merger as a bid for scale and cost efficiencies. Adamson tagged the move as “well-timed” for what he described as “an emerging, multi-year offshore drilling upcycle.” Valaris CEO Anton Dibowitz, for his part, said the merged outfit would be “capable of operating any rig at any water depth.” 4
Valaris shares jumped roughly 10.8% ahead of the open. Transocean, after climbing Wednesday, saw only a slight move.
Norway’s fixtures lean toward the back half as well. Most Encourage-related activity won’t really kick off until the first quarter of 2027, so for now, the numbers mostly hinge on utilization rates for the current fleet—and on just how much downtime the company logs.
Still, plenty could go sideways here. Norway’s work isn’t slated to kick off until 2027—delays aren’t uncommon, and project timelines often shift as operator budgets track crude swings. The Valaris agreement? It’s not a done deal yet; required approvals are pending, and just one integration slip-up could wipe out all those projected “synergies.”
Transocean plans to release its fourth-quarter 2025 results and update its fleet status after the NYSE wraps up on Feb. 19, the company announced. Management’s conference call follows the next day, Feb. 20. 5
Investors are now eyeing the next set of signals: whether management offers anything new on cash flow or debt reduction, fresh detail on fleet demand looking out to 2026, and—if the Valaris deal proceeds—what the plan is for managing the combined rig portfolio.
