Seadrill closing benign jack-up chapter with sale of eight-year stacked rig

Bermuda-headquartered offshore drilling contractor Seadrill has bid farewell to a jack-up rig that spent eight years out of work. The divestment is perceived as an enabler of the firm’s strategy to leave the benign jack-up market.

The sale of the West Prospero jack-up rig was completed for cash proceeds of $45 million. The 2007-built independent leg cantilever jack-up with operational history in Northeast Africa and Southeast Asia is of Mod V-B design. With a maximum drilling capacity of 40,000 feet (about 12,192 meters), the rig, constructed in KFELS’ yard in Singapore, can operate in water depths of 400 feet (around 122 meters).

Simon Johnson, Seadrill’s President and Chief Executive Officer, commented: “With the sale of the West Prospero, we have monetized a non-core asset that has been stacked since 2016 and successfully executed on our strategy to exit the benign jack-up market.”

Four rigs in Seadrill’s fleet were cold-stacked at the end of 3Q 2024, including the 2008-built West Aquarius semi-submersible in Norway, the 2011-built West Eclipse semi-sub in Namibia, the 2008-built West Phoenix harsh environment semi-sub in Norway, and the 2007-built West Prospero jack-up in Malaysia.

With 14 floaters, encompassing drillships and semi-submersibles, alongside two managed units for Angola’s state oil company Sonangol, Seadrill had a backlog of approximately $2.3 billion in November 12, 2024, compared to $2.5 billion in August 2024.

Based on recent market and media speculation, the rig owner and Transocean are allegedly mulling over a potential business combination to create a player with a rig fleet of 49 units.