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Seadrill and Gulf Drilling form JV for Qatar Petroleum jackup contract

John Fredriksen’s Seadrill Limited has formed a joint venture with Gulf Drilling International (GDI), following the award of a contract to GDI in May by Qatar Petroleum.

The 50:50 joint venture, named GulfDrill, will manage and operate five jackup rigs in Qatar with Qatar Petroleum from 2020.

The five contracts have staggered commencements throughout 2020, and are worth in the region of $656m. Further options are available, and are worth up to an additional $700m.

GulfDrill will initially bareboat charter the West Telesto and West Castor from Seadrill and have secured bareboat charters for three additional jackups from a third-party shipyard.

Anton Dibowitz, CEO of Seadrill, commented: “We are excited to establish a significant presence in an important Jackup market and to partner with GDI. GulfDrill will give us the opportunity to improve our access to a market that is expected to
show significant growth over the next years and strengthen our relationship with Qatar Petroleum.”

Grant Rowles

Grant spent nine years at Informa Group based in London, Sydney, Hong Kong and Singapore. He gained strong management experience in publishing, conferences and awards schemes in the shipping and legal areas, working on a number of titles including Lloyd's List. In 2009 Grant joined Seatrade responsible for the commercial development of Seatrade’s Asia products. In 2012, with Sam Chambers, he co-founded Asia Shipping Media.
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