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.