Three oil & gas rigs say their goodbyes to Seadrill’s offshore drilling fleet

Bermuda-headquartered offshore drilling contractor Seadrill has no more interest in Gulfdrill LLC, a former 50:50 joint venture (JV) between the firm and Gulf Drilling International (GDI), as three jack-up rigs deployed in Qatar have now left the company’s fleet and passed into the hands of its ex-joint venture partner.

After unveiling its plans to divest the West Castor, West Telesto, and West Tucana jack-up rigs, part of the Qatar jack-up fleet and bareboat chartered to Gulfdrill, Sedrill entered into a definitive agreement with its JV partner, Gulf Drilling International, to sell the rigs.

The Bermuda-based player has now wrapped up the sale of these three jack-up rigs and its 50% equity interest in the joint venture that operates them offshore Qatar to Gulf Drilling International for cash proceeds of $338 million.

Recently, Seadrill landed additional work for two drillships in its rig fleet, after reporting another contract and extension in January 2024, totaling approximately $97.5 million, along with a timeline for taking over management services for another drillship.