John Fredriksen’s Seadrill has agreed to sell jackup rigs West Triton, West Resolute and West Mischief to Shelf Drilling for a total of $225m.
Shelf Drilling, based in Dubai, had announced the deal last week without revealing the seller and specific rigs involved.
West Triton and West Resolute are scheduled to be delivered to the new owners by the end of this month, while West Mischief is scheduled for deliver in the third quarter after it completes a drilling contract with NDC in Abu Dhabi.
Seadrill said that the total debt attached to the three rigs is $102m, giving it sale proceeds of $123m from the deal. However the rigs have a carrying value of $415m, meaning a $190m loss will be booked in the first quarter of 2017.
Seadrill, saddled with debts and liabilities of around $14bn, is preparing to implement a restructuring plan which will likely involve schemes of arrangement or chapter 11 proceedings.
