Seadrill has officially offloaded three of its jackup rigs and an equity interest in its Qatari joint venture, Gulfdrill.
The New York and Oslo-listed offshore rig owner has struck a $338m deal with its joint venture partner Gulf Drilling International (GDI) to take over the business and the jackups West Castor, West Telesto and West Tucana.
The transaction, subject to approval by Qatari authorities and GDI’s parent, Doha-listed Gulf International Services (GIS), should close in the third quarter of this year.
Gulfdrill was established in 2019, and Seadrill has been looking to exit the business since June last year.
“Our divestiture of the Qatar jackup fleet and exit from the joint venture are consistent with our ongoing efforts to strengthen and simplify our business and will allow us to focus on Seadrill’s core business: operating deepwater rigs across the Golden Triangle and similarly advantaged geographies,” said Simon Johnson, president and chief executive at Seadrill.
Following the sale, the company will own 10 drillships and manage two as part of a joint venture with Sonangol, four semisubs and a pair of jackups. In 2022, Seadrill sold seven jackups operating in Saudi Arabia for $628m to subsidiaries of Middle East driller ADES.
