Seadrill News

Esgian reports that drilling contracts have been announced this week for operations in Brazil and the Philippines, and new discoveries have been confirmed in the UK and Namibia in its Week 11 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.ContractsCOSL Drilling has emerged as the winner for Petrobras' moored semisubmersible tender with the 4,600-ft Nanhai 8 (also known as Nan Hai Ba Hao).Noble has secured a high-dayrate drillship contract with Prime Energy in the Philippines.Drilling Activity and…

Esgian reports rig-related updates from Dolphin Drilling, Diamond Offshore, and Seadrill in its Week 9 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.Report Outline:ContractsDespite Tullow Oil’s recent announcement that it would take a break from drilling offshore Ghana, Noble Corp. has stated that there has been no contract termination announcement and that its 12,000-ft drillship Noble Venturer is currently still contracted to Tullow into March 2025.Masirah Oil Ltd has signed a rig contract with…

Esgian's last roundup of the year for the Week 52 puts spotlight on new developments for Dolphin Drilling semisub, Seadrill drillships, as well as Shell’s plans for Australia and ONGC’s new tender for jackups in India.ContractsDolphin Drilling has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with an undisclosed operator for the 1,500-ft semisubmersible Borgland Dolphin to undertake a 500-day drilling campaign in the UK. The drilling campaign is planned to begin directly after the firm part of the contract period with EnQuest, which was announced in late November 2023.

This week Esgian’s Week 50 Rig Analytics Market Roundup notes developments in the semisub sector including that Shell has decided to exercise its option on Stena Don in the North Sea but not on Deepsea Bollsta in Namibia. Meanwhile, a new contract for the Transocean Barents will see it operate in the Black Sea, and jackup Shelf Drilling Perseverance will move to Vietnam.ContractsShelf Drilling has secured a contract award for the 400ft Shelf Drilling Perseverance jackup rig with PetroVietnam Domestic Exploration Production Operating Company Limited (PVEP POC).

Esgian has published its Week 48 Rig Market Roundup highlighting that new contract awards were revealed for a Velesto Drilling jackup, two Seadrill drillships and a Dolphin Drilling semisub. Meanwhile, Wintershall Dea is planning to drill a new carbon storage well in Norway.ContractsMalaysia’s Velesto Drilling has agreed on an extension of a contract with Carigali Hess Operating Company for another year and six months.Seadrill has secured a short-term contract for 12,000ft drillship West Vela in the US Gulf of Mexico with QuarterNorth Energy…

An arbitration tribunal has delivered a verdict in a drillship order cancellation case involving offshore drilling contractor Northern Drilling and Daweoo Shipbuilding Marine and Engineering (now known as Hanwha Ocean), ruling in favor of Hanwha.Billionaire John Fredriksen-owned offshore drilling company Northern Drilling canceled the West Aquila and West Libra drillship orders with South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering in 2021, citing delay of deliveries as well as a repudiatory breach of contract, and said it would seek a refund for installments paid.

Offshore drilling firms Seadrill Limited and Aquadrill (ex-Seadrill Partners) on Thursday announced a definitive merger agreement under which Seadrill will acquire Aquadrill in an all-stock transaction. When the transaction is completed, Seadrill shareholders and Aquadrill unitholders will own 62% and 38% of the common shares in the new company, respectively. Based on Seadrill's 30-day volume-weighted average share price of US$31.25 on the NYSE as of December 22, 2022, the deal…

Offshore drilling company Seadrill Limited has secured a contract for the West Jupiter drillship with Brazil's Petrobras for work in the Búzios field offshore Brazil. The contract is for a firm term of 1,040 days with the start-up slated for December 2022. The total contract value is about $264 million, including mobilization revenue and additional services.Seadrill’s Chief Executive Officer, Stuart Jackson, said: “Petrobras is a long-standing and valued customer of Seadrill, and signing a third contract with them this quarter is testament to our strong partnership and commitment to the Brazilian market. Seadrill is focused on growing our fleet in strategic basins where we see high growth potential…

Offshore drilling rig reactivations have begun as utilization and dayrates continue their rapid recovery, Esgian's Teresa Wilkie writes.We expected it to happen just not necessarily this soon. But now it’s official, several cold-stacked rigs are about to be reactivated for new jobs in the Golden Triangle, and Valaris is taking the lead. Just last week, the driller confirmed that it will reactivate 6th generation, ultra-deepwater drillship Valaris DS-4 for a minimum 580-day deal with Petrobras Brazil.

Offshore drilling company Seadrill has moved a step closer to reaching bankruptcy emergence after the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas approved the disclosure statement for the company's proposed plan of reorganization.Seadrill said Friday that the court had authorized the company to distribute the disclosure statement and solicit votes from all lenders on the Plan. The court also set a hearing to consider approval of the Plan for October 26, 2021."The…

Offshore drilling rig contractors Transocean Ltd and Dolphin Drilling have made a new offer to buy the assets of stricken rival Seadrill Ltd, Dolphin's chief executive said on Friday.Oslo-listed Seadrill, founded by Norwegian-born tycoon John Fredriksen, is seeking to emerge from U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings under an alternative financial plan filed in court last month."I can confirm that Dolphin and Transocean submitted an updated bid yesterday," Dolphin Chief Executive Bjoernar Iversen told Reuters.Seadrill's Oslo-listed shares traded 5.5% up by 1425 GMT…

Billionaire John Fredriksen-owned offshore drilling company Northern Drilling said Tuesday it had canceled a drillship resale contract with the South Korean shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME).In May 2018, Northern Drilling signed agreements with DSME to buy two newbuilding 7th generation DP3 and ultra-deepwater capable drillships DSME known as the West Aquila and the West Libra, for $296 million each with $90 million paid at contract signing and the remainder at delivery. However, Northern Ocean said  Tuesday it had canceled the contract for the West Aquila drillship due to delay of delivery as well as a repudiatory breach of contract.Northern Drilling…

Offshore drilling contractor Transocean on Wednesday released its quarterly offshore drilling rig fleet status report, which shows one contract terminated in Norway, and several new deals secured Norway, U.S. Gulf, Brazil, Angola, Brunei, and, possibly, Myanmar. The rig owner's total backlog is now around $7.3 billion.While some of the contracts were already announced as they were coming in during the quarter, Transocean shared some new information, too.It said Thursday that the Hungarian oil firm MOL had in July terminated the Transocean Barents semi-sub drilling contract for convenience. The drilling rig was supposed to stay with MOL between May and December 2021…

Noble Corp and a consortium that includes Transocean Ltd and Dolphin Drilling are competing to acquire the assets of Seadrill Ltd, the bankrupt offshore oil driller controlled by Norwegian-born tycoon John Fredriksen, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.Seadrill is trying to emerge from its second U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy in four years: like many in the industry, it expanded its drilling rigs too aggressively in the mid-2010s to withstand a subsequent plunge in energy prices and rig hire rates.

Norwegian oil and gas company Equnior has made a final investment decision for the development of the Bacalhau field offshore Brazil.The development of the field located in the Santos Basin will cost around $8 billion. Arne Sigve Nylund, Equinor’s executive vice president for Projects, Drilling, and Procurement said: "This is an exciting day. Bacalhau is the first greenfield development by an international operator in the pre-salt area and will create great value for Brazil, Equinor, and partners.

Offshore drilling contractor Seadrill said it has secured a four-year firm contract with four one year options for the West Saturn drillship with Equinor Brasil Energia Ltda for work on the Bacalhau field in Brazil.Total value for the firm portion of the contract, including mobilization, upgrades and integrated services, is expected to be approximately $380 million, with a performance bonus providing meaningful incremental opportunity, Seadrill said. The total contract value is contingent on the final investment decision (FID) by the partnership for Bacalhau.

Offshore drilling rig contractor Seadrill has asked creditors to write off more than 85% of its debts in exchange for a 99% stake in the reorganized company, a court filing showed.The Oslo-listed firm controlled by Norwegian-born billionaire John Fredriksen in February filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States, the second time it has done so in four years.Seadrill has in the past year written off billions of dollars worth of assets due to a bleak outlook for the oil sector…

Offshore drilling company Valaris, the world's largest by fleet size, has received approval from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas of its prearranged plan of reorganization, and has agreed with Korea's Daewoo to delay deliveries of two newbuild drillships.The offshore driller filed for bankruptcy in August 2020, in a move to restructure its debt load and reduce debt by more than $6.5 billion.The company this week said that in addition to bankruptcy court confirmation, the plan received support from approximately 80% of the company's unsecured notes and bank lenders representing 100% of the company's credit facility claims.

Maine Maritime Academy (MMA) hired alumnus Captain Gordon ‘Mac’ MacArthur to serve as master aboard the Training Ship State of Maine.With more than 30 years of experience in the maritime field, MacArthur served most recently as a Senior Dynamic Positioning Officer for Diamond Offshore Drilling, where he monitored environmental conditions, assisted in incident investigation and analysis, maintained and tested equipment, and managed personnel aboard offshore drilling vessels. Prior to joining Diamond, MacArthur served as Chief Mate and Master with Seadrill.

Offshore drilling rig contractor Seadrill has filed for bankruptcy protection at a court in the U.S. state of Texas, it said on Wednesday, the second time in four years the company has entered into so-called Chapter 11 restructuring.The Oslo-listed group controlled by Norwegian-born billionaire John Fredriksen returned to court along with several subsidiaries after failing to win consent from bank lenders to postpone payments on $5.7 billion of debts.Its total debts and liabilities…

Golar LNG said on Monday Hygo Energy Transition Ltd, a joint venture between Golar and U.S. private equity firm Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, has appointed Paul Hanrahan as chief executive officer after Eduardo Antonello stepped down, following a corruption investigation in Brazil.Antonello has been accused by Brazilian federal prosecutors of bribery in a massive Car Wash corruption probe that in six years has led to the jailing of two former Brazilian presidents and hundreds of executives and politicians, with Brazilian and Dutch police executing dozens of search warrants.Operation Car Wash: Seadrill Served with Search and Seizure…

Golar LNG said on Tuesday Hygo Energy Transition Ltd Chief Executive Officer Eduardo Antonello has taken leave of absence with immediate effect, following a corruption investigation involving him in Brazil.Golar said Antonello's leave was in no way linked to any action or misconduct during his tenure at Hygo Energy, a liquefied natural gas transport and infrastructure operator formed with U.S. private equity firm Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners.Antonello's functions will be taken over temporarily by Hygo's board, Golar said.Last Thursday, Brazilian federal prosecutors accused Antonello of bribery in court filings outlining a new phase of the massive Car Wash graft probe…

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.