SeaDrill Ltd Inks $319M Rig Deals - Analyst Blog

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Offshore drilling firm SeaDrill Limited SDRL announced the receipt of new contracts for its four jack-up rigs. The units are West Tucana, West Telesto, West Ariel and West Prospero. The company also secured a four-month contract extension for its West Mischief jack-up unit. It is expected that the extension agreement along with the four new deals will generate roughly $319.0 million in revenues.

Among the four jack-up units, West Tucana will likely operate off the coast of Angola for 24 months with Cabinda Gulf Oil Company Ltd. (CABGOC) – a fully owned affiliate of U.S. energy behemoth Chevron Corp. CVX. The rig is expected to start operating for the new project by the second half of Nov 2014 and will earn $168.0 million in revenues.

The West Telesto jack-up rig will work with Origin Energy Ltd, an energy firm based in Australia. The rig will operate two wells off the coast of Australia for roughly 102 days. The unit has also got the choice of operating two additional wells. The unit will probably start working for the development from the fourth quarter of 2014. SeaDrill Limited expects West Telesto to generate $31.0 million in revenues.

The jack-up rigs West Ariel and West Prospero will likely work with ENI Congo SA and JVPC, respectively. West Ariel is anticipated to operate offshore Congo for a year and has also got the preference to work for additional 12 months. West Ariel is expected to start operations by the second half of April or by the first half of May 2014 and will generate $89.0 million in revenues. Meanwhile, West Prospero, which will work for 40 days off the coast of Vietnam, is expected to register roughly $6.5 million revenues.

SeaDrill added that West Mischief will be working for an additional four-month period at improved day rates. The jack-up will generate extra revenues of $24.0 million.

Hamilton, Bermuda-based SeaDrill Limited's jack-up fleet's entire order backlog now stands at $4.4 billion. The company currently retains a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), implying that it is expected to perform in line with the U.S. equity market over the next one to three months.  

Meanwhile, one can consider better-ranked players in the oil and gas drilling sector like Helmerich & Payne Inc. HP and Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. PTEN. Both stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).



CHEVRON CORP CVX: Free Stock Analysis Report

HELMERICH&PAYNE HP: Free Stock Analysis Report

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SEADRILL LTD SDRL: Free Stock Analysis Report

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