Seadrill has been awarded contracts by a leading operator to deploy three of its jack-ups for work in the Middle East beginning in 2023.
The contracts cover the West Ariel, West Cressida, and West Leda for work in the Middle East and have a total value of approximately $404m, including mobilisation revenue, Seadrill said Thursday.
The firm-term of each contract is three years with expected commencement between Q1 2023 and Q2 2023.
Once the three contracts are underway, Seadrill will operate seven units directly and have a further three units on bareboat charter in the region.
It follows further contract awards announced earlier this week in the Gulf of Mexico.
One award for the West Neptune covers a four-well extension with two one-well options with LLOG Exploration Offshore, in direct continuation of its existing contract.
The $71m contract has an estimated duration of 200 days and is expected to keep the rig busy until August 2023.
In addition, the Sevan Louisiana secured a three-well extension with Talos Production, also in the Gulf of Mexico. The extension has a minimum duration of 105 days and is an extension to the existing contract with Talos, set to commence in August 2022.
Total contract value for the three-well extension is approximately $34m.
Chief executive Simon Johnson commented: “With our imminent re-listing in Oslo, news of this award confirms Seadrill’s status as a preferred partner in a rapidly recovering rig market. Upon commencement of operations early next year, these rigs will add to Seadrill’s strong market share in the Middle East, leading to significant economies of scale by clustering rigs of similar design in a market segment where we see strong signs of recovery and long-term demand.”
In a separate announcement on Thursday, the company also confirmed it had begun trading common shares on the Oslo Børs – also known as Euronext Expand – under the ticker SDRL.
Seadrill was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in 2020, following a fall in the price of its shares, and later filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, from which it emerged in February 2022, appointing Mr Johnson as CEO shortly after.
The Oslo Stock Exchange followed suit in delisting the company earlier this month, though Seadrill says it expects to re-enter the main markets of Oslo and New York later this year.