The Seadrill Group News

Offshore drilling contractor Seadrill said Thursday its Brazilian subsidiary had been served with a search and seizure warrant in relation to a bribery investigation."Seadrill Limited confirms that today its subsidiary Seadrill Serviços de Petroleo, Ltda was served with a search and seizure warrant from the Federal Police in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as part of the latest phase of Operation Car Wash."Operation Car Wash is a years-long corruption investigation by the Brazilian Federal Police that covers, among others, allegations that some Petrobras executives have been taking bribes to award contracts to service providers."Seadrill is cooperating fully with the ongoing investigation," the company said.

Revenues for the second quarter of 2014 were US$1,222 million compared to US$1,221 million in the first quarter of 2014, according to the company's financial report. Operating profit for the quarter was US$476 million compared to US$890 million in the preceding quarter. The decrease is primarily due to inclusion of the gain on sale of the West Auriga sale of US$440 million in first quarter results. Net financial and other items for the quarter showed a gain of US$71 million compared to a gain of US$2,239 million in the previous quarter. The gain is primarily related to the sale of SapuraKencana shares and income received from Seadrill Partners of US$59 million, partially offset by a loss from Archer of US$5 million and a loss on derivative positions of US$95 million.

Statoil has signed a contract with North Atlantic Norway to hire the West Hercules rig which can be used for exploration and production drilling internationally and on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). Statoil has signed an agreement with North Atlantic Norway Ltd (Norwegian Branch), a company in the Seadrill group, for hire of the West Hercules rig for use on exploration prospects and production licences. The semi-submersible rig will be deployed to start drilling from Q3 2012.