Seadrill wraps up $628m rigs sale

Seadrill has completed the sale of seven jackup rigs operating in Saudi Arabia to subsidiaries of Middle East driller ADES for $628m.

The deal included AOD I, AOD II, AOD III, West Callisto, West Ariel (pictured), West Cressida, and West Leda. ADES will also employ the crews operating the rigs and will hold the drilling contracts related to the rigs. In June, the AOD I, AOD III and West Callisto were extended by Saudi Aramco for three years in a deal worth around $361m.

The New York and Oslo-listed driller noted the amount from the sale is subject to adjustment for working capital and other items, and reimbursement to Seadrill for any project costs spent in relation to the reactivation of the three stacked jackups, which translates into around $100m per rig on a ready-to-drill basis. West Ariel is under reactivation in the UAE, while West Cressida and West Leda are being reactivated in Malaysia.

“The proceeds from the jackup sale enable Seadrill to significantly de-leverage its balance sheet and to eliminate outstanding capital expenditure for the reactivation rigs,” the company said in a regulatory filing.