SDRL - Seadrill orders four new ultra-deepwater drillships for delivery in 2015
(Thomson Reuters ONE) -
Hamilton, Bermuda, July 15, 2013 - Seadrill Limited ("Seadrill" or "the
Company") has entered into turnkey contracts to build four new ultra-deepwater
drillships. Two drillships will be built at the DSME yard and the other two at
the Samsung yard, in South Korea. The project value price is estimated to be
below US$600 million per unit (including project management, drilling and
handling tools, spares, capitalized interest and operations preparations).
Delivery of the 4 units is scheduled for the second half 2015. Seadrill has in
addition received fixed priced options for delivery of two further units for
delivery in the first half 2016.
The drillships will have a hook load capability of 1,250 tons and a water depth
capacity of up to 12,000 feet targeting operations in areas such as the Gulf of
Mexico, Brazil and West and East Africa. Also, these units will be outfitted
with seven ram configuration of the blowout preventer (BOP) stack and with
storing and handling capacity for a second BOP. The units include design and
equipment features, which makes them particularly attractive for development
drilling. For two of the drillships, Seadrill has received options to include
equipment which makes the units prepared for 20K BOP systems.
Seadrill's construction program now totals 22 units, including 9 drillships, 2
harsh environment semi-submersibles, and 11 high specification jack-ups. In
addition the Company has fixed priced options for two ultra-deepwater units.
The offshore drilling market has absorbed approximately 261 new units since
2005 and the utilization of the ultra deepwater fleet has been 100% since
Seadrill was established in 2005. In the same period offshore production has
been estimated to be marginally down. This illustrates in very simple terms the
increased complexity of the development of new oil and gas reserves. Seadrill
has spent significant time and effort analyzing the future demand of the ultra
deepwater drilling market. Ultra deepwater production is estimated to increase
from around 1 million barrels per day today to 5 million barrels per day over
the next 6 years. In order to reach this target significant new development
drilling capacity will have to be added. At the same time, the industry faces a
situation where approximately 49% of the current floater fleet is older than 20
years. We have already seen a strong trend where fourth and fifth generation
vessels are incapable of meeting oil companies' new requirement for safety
margin and deck load capacity and are being replaced with newer units.
The Board of Seadrill is of the opinion that the current order book for 2014 -
2016 of approximately 39 units will be fully absorbed, and utilization will
continue at very high levels with solid dayrates for the modern equipment.
Seadrill currently has an order backlog of approximately US$19 billion. Based on
current discussions, we are confident that in the coming months we will add to
this as our open 2014 capacity is likely to be fixed at attractive day rate
levels.
Seadrill believes that the economic and administrative benefits of organic
growth are far superior to large corporate acquisitions. The decision to move
ahead with these four newbuilds is taken after a careful consideration of
Seadrill's financing capacity, and is partly a reflection of the increased
financial flexibility created by the sale of the tender rig fleet to Sapura
Kencana. The Board has during the last year also seen significant improvement in
Seadrill's borrowing capacity. This trend is supported by strong improvement in
operating results as well as increased credibility in the ECA market, the bond
market as well as lower margins from commercial banks.
We expect that the four newbuilds can be fully financed through a combination of
available cash and structured debt facilities, and that no additional equity or
reduction in dividend capacity will be needed to support and complete the
project. Longer term, the additional drilling units are likely to increase
Seadrill's dividend capacity.
The industry's ordering of deep water drilling units for 2015 delivery has been
lower than expected with only 7 un-contracted newbuilds available prior to our
order. It is unlikely that our competitors can add any significant additional
capacity before the second part of 2016. We are comfortable that based on our
current asset composition, quality of operation and capital structure we will be
able to keep our target of delivering better returns for our shareholders than
any of our industry peers. The Board continues to be excited about the strong
demand for drilling and the overall tightness in the supply demand situation.
John Fredriksen, Chairman of Seadrill Limited, says: "We have been able to use
the current weakness in the shipbuilding industry to order drilling units at
very attractive price levels. At the same time we are securing future growth by
continuing to build a homogenous fleet with all the operational benefits which
come from fleet standardization.
Through this latest newbuild order Seadrill remains uniquely positioned as a
high growth - high dividend stock."
Media contact
Rune Magnus Lundetræ
Chief Financial Officer
Seadrill Management Ltd.
+44 (0) 7766 071010
This information is subject of the disclosure requirements pursuant to section
5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.
This announcement is distributed by Thomson Reuters on behalf of
Thomson Reuters clients. The owner of this announcement warrants that:
(i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and
other applicable laws; and
(ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and
originality of the information contained therein.
Source: Seadrill Limited via Thomson Reuters ONE
[HUG#1716331]
Unternehmensinformation / Kurzprofil:
Datum: 15.07.2013 - 08:56 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 278172
Anzahl Zeichen: 6517
contact information:
Town:
Hamilton
Kategorie:
Business News
Diese Pressemitteilung wurde bisher 119 mal aufgerufen.
Die Pressemitteilung mit dem Titel:
"SDRL - Seadrill orders four new ultra-deepwater drillships for delivery in 2015"
steht unter der journalistisch-redaktionellen Verantwortung von
Seadrill Limited (Nachricht senden)
Beachten Sie bitte die weiteren Informationen zum Haftungsauschluß (gemäß TMG - TeleMedianGesetz) und dem Datenschutz (gemäß der DSGVO).
