By Alison Sider
A prosecutor has appealed a Brazilian judge's decision last
month to drop criminal charges against Transocean Ltd. (RIG,
RIGN.VX), Transocean Chief Executive Steven Newman said Monday
during a conference call.
Charges had been brought against Transocean, Chevron Corp. (CVX)
and 17 individuals related to a 2011 oil spill at the Frade field,
a deep-water development off Brazil's southeast coast.
The prosecutor, Eduardo Santos de Oliveira, had accused the
companies, 16 of their employees and a subcontractor of
environmental crimes and damaging public property relating to an
accident on Nov. 7, 2011, in which an estimated 3,700 barrels of
oil leaked from a well at the Frade field, which is operated by
Chevron. It had hired Transocean to do the drilling.
Last month, a judge in Brazil dropped the criminal charges.
"We learned the prosecutor has filed an appeal but we remain
confident in our position and will vigorously pursue final and
comprehensive resolution of the underlying litigation," Mr. Newman
said Monday.
Mr. Newman also told analysts and investors during the
conference call that Transocean is in "advanced discussions" with
an unnamed major integrated oil company to build a new
ultra-deep-water drilling rig. The vessel's features would be
"consistent" with those of four drill ships on which the company is
currently working for Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA, RDSA.LN), Mr.
Newman said.
Also during the conference call, Transocean Chief Financial
Officer Esa Ikaheimonen said the company is "quite seriously"
looking into dropping some of its rigs into a master limited
partnership as a way to raise cash.
"It's interesting. We're quite seriously looking into it, but
with a cool analytical approach rather than a mad rush," Mr.
Ikaheimonen said.
Last year, SeaDrill Ltd. (SDRL, SDRL.OS) spun off drilling-rig
assets to create a master limited partnership, Seadrill Partners
LLC (SDLP).
Write to Alison Sider at alison.sider@dowjones.com.
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires