Transocean Rating Upgrade Overview
S&P Global Ratings on 12 June 2026 upgraded Transocean Ltd (NYSE:RIG) from CCC+ to B‑ and removed the offshore drilling contractor from CreditWatch Positive, assigning a positive outlook. The upgrade reflects improved leverage and liquidity.
The company added over $1.6 billion to its contracted backlog and repaid nearly $520 million of secured debt since February 2026. Since the start of 2025, gross debt fell by $1.8 billion, including full repayment of $358 million of 8.375 % notes due 2028 that were secured by the Deepwater Titan rig in Q1 2026. S&P projects the funds‑from‑operations‑to‑debt ratio to reach 15‑18 % over the next two years.
Average rig utilisation rose to 87 % in the first quarter of 2026, up from 72 % in 2025 and 60 % in 2024, with average day‑rates of $475,000. As of 31 March 2026, Transocean’s liquidity stood at $792 million, comprising $330 million of unrestricted cash and $462 million available under an undrawn $510 million revolving credit facility that matures in 2028.
At the issue level, S&P raised the rating on Transocean’s secured debt to B+ from B, assigning a recovery rating of 1. The super‑priority and priority‑guaranteed notes were upgraded to B from B‑ with a recovery rating of 2, and unsecured notes were lifted to B from CCC+ with the recovery rating improved to 2 from 3.
In early February 2026, Transocean agreed to acquire offshore drilling company Valaris Ltd for $5.8 billion of stock and to assume $1.1 billion of Valaris’ debt. The transaction will add approximately $4.9 billion of contracted backlog and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026.