Offshore drilling giant Seadrill posted its best ever results after making a $1.7billion profit in the second quarter – despite selling off their tender rig business.
Conversely, Sevan – in whom Seadrill now owns a 50.11% stake – saw their losses continue to grow after posting a $35.5million loss for the second quarter of the year.
Shareholders snubbed an offer by shipping giant John Fredriksen’s group earlier this month to buy the outstanding stock, with just 0.01% selling up following calls by Sevan boardmembers to reject the bid.
Seadrill saw its operating profit fall slightly for the first quarter of the year, due to the sale of the West Janus rig earlier this year, but was boosted by a huge turn-around in figures that saw their net financial figures rise from a $68million loss to a $1.3billion gain thanks to the sale of the tender business.
Malaysian group SapuraKencana bought the tender rig arm of the company in a $2.83billion deal.
Seadrill said the outlook remained positive, with increased demand for harsh environment rigs in the Arctic regions, while premium jack-up rig demand was increasing, particularly off West Africa and the Gulf of Mexico.
“Mexico presents a particularly interesting opportunity,” the company noted.
“During the last 10 years, 552 wells have been drilled offshore Mexico while 4,653 wells have been drilled in the US Gulf of Mexico.
“With similar geology, this highlights the enormous potential for the Mexican portion of the Gulf and we believe the first leg of the growth story will occur in the shallow water. Seadrill sees Mexico as a strategically important market going forward.”
The company also confirmed talks with a partner over the future of North Atlantic Drilling were ongoing, with a New York listing for the group expected to take place.
Seadrill said it would consolidate the results of Sevan into future financial statements – at the same time the ultradeepwater group was revealing its own results.
Losses increased at Sevan to $35.5million for the quarter, and $59.7m for the first half of the year, with the Sevan Driller left suffering downtime in May and June, while the Sevan Brazil rig had a commercial uptime of 98.4%.
Last month Sevan renegotiated a new bank facility to give it an $1.75billion to fund the Sevan Louisiana rig – due for completion in October – and the forthcoming forth rig due next year.
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