Seadrill is a

deepwater drilling Deepwater drilling, or deep well drilling, is the process of creating holes in the Earth's crust using a drilling rig for oil extraction under the deep sea. There are approximately 3400 deepwater wells in the Gulf of Mexico with depths greater ...

contractor for the

petroleum industry The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry or the oil patch, includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing of petroleum products. The larges ...

. It is incorporated in

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

for tax purposes and managed from

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

The company operates

semi-submersible platform A semi-submersible platform is a specialised marine vessel used in offshore roles including as offshore drilling rigs, safety vessels, oil production platforms, and heavy lift cranes. They have good ship stability and seakeeping, better than dr ...

jackup rig A jackup rig or a self-elevating unit is a type of mobile platform that consists of a buoyant hull fitted with a number of movable legs, capable of raising its hull over the surface of the sea. The buoyant hull enables transportation of the unit a ...

s and

drillship A drillship is a merchant vessel designed for use in exploratory offshore drilling of new oil and gas wells or for scientific drilling purposes. In recent years the vessels have been used in deepwater and ultra-deepwater applications, equipped ...

History

Seadrill was incorporated as a Bermuda company on May 10, 2005 by

John Fredriksen John Fredriksen (born 10 May 1944) is a Norwegian-born Cypriot oil tanker and shipping billionaire businessman based in London. He owns the world's largest oil tanker fleet and has major interests in the offshore driller Seadrill, the fish farmi ...

, a Norwegian-born shipping tycoon, and listed on the

Oslo Stock Exchange Oslo Stock Exchange ( no, Oslo Børs) (OSE: OSLO) is a stock exchange within the Nordic countries and offers Norway’s only regulated markets for securities trading today. The stock exchange offers a full product range including equities, deriv ...

in November 2005. In July 2005, the company acquired jack up rigs from

Odfjell Drilling Odfjell Drilling Ltd. is an oil drilling, well service, and engineering company. Current operations The company has 3 divisions: * Mobile Offshore Drilling - Owns 6 drillships and operates in Norway, United Kingdom, Angola, Vietnam, and Brazil. ...

. In September 2006, the company acquired a controlling share of

Smedvig Smedvig ASA, ("Smedvig"), ( OSE: SME, NYSE: SMVA) was a Norwegian offshore oil rig company headquartered in Stavanger until it was acquired (January 2006) by rig newcomer SeaDrill of tanker mogul John Fredriksen. At time of the merger Smedvig opera ...

by outbidding

Noble Corporation Noble Corporation plc is an offshore drilling contractor organized in London, United Kingdom. Its affiliate, Noble Corporation, is organized in the Cayman Islands. It is the corporate successor of Noble Drilling Corporation. The company operate ...

. In 2007, the company acquired

Eastern Drilling Eastern Drilling was an offshore drilling contractor headquartered in Grimstad, Norway. In May 2007, Seadrill acquired the company. History The company was founded in 2004. In 2005, Smedvig acquired a 10% stake in the company. In November 2006, ...

. In May 2010, the company outbid Ensco (now

Valaris plc Valaris plc is an offshore drilling contractor headquartered in Houston, Texas, and incorporated in the UK. It is the largest offshore drilling and well drilling company in the world, and owns 56 rigs, including 40 offshore jackup rigs, 11 dril ...

) for Scorpion Offshore, valuing the company at $567 million. In 2014, Seadrill conducted an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

of its North Atlantic Drilling subsidiary, which owns harsh environment rigs. Seadrill continued to own 70% of North Atlantic Drilling. In April 2013, the company sold the majority of its

tender rig Tender Assisted rigs are an existing type of development drilling, workover or plug & abandonment rig (same "family" as Jack Up, semi-submersible or drillship). It is however the only design that can operate in both Shallow and Deepwater (from 20 m ...

and semi-tender operation to SapuraKencana. In May 2013, the company sold

Tender rig Tender Assisted rigs are an existing type of development drilling, workover or plug & abandonment rig (same "family" as Jack Up, semi-submersible or drillship). It is however the only design that can operate in both Shallow and Deepwater (from 20 m ...

s ''T-15'', ''T16'' and the ''West Vencedor'' to Seadrill Partners LLC. In June 2013, the company acquired a majority interest in Sevan Drilling. In November 2014, the company suspended dividend payments as a result of a downturn in the industry. In December 2017, the company filed

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

. The company emerged from bankruptcy in July 2018. However, the company had its shares delisted from the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...

in June 2020. On October 1, 2020, Seadrill announced the appointment of new CEO Stuart Jackson, replacing Anton Dibowitz with immediate effect. In November 2020, Seadrill has collaborated with Forbearance. In December 2022, it was announced Seadrill had acquired the London-headquartered owner of offshore drilling units, Aquadrill LLC, in an all-stock deal worth $958 million USD.

Controversies

Bribery allegations

In 2015,

Petrobras Petróleo Brasileiro S.A., better known by the portmanteau Petrobras (), is a state owned enterprise, state-owned Brazilian multinational corporation in the petroleum industry headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The company's name transla ...

alleged bribery in the negotiations of rig contracts signed by Sevan Drilling, a subsidiary of Seadrill, in 2005-2008.

Environmental damage due to rig fire

In November 2009, Seadrill's West Atlas

, which was located on Montara field, about 690 kilometers offshore of Darwin,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, caught fire after the field had been leaking oil for ten weeks. The rig was operated by the Thai firm PTTEP. For 74 days, gas and oil ran into the

Timor Sea The Timor Sea ( id, Laut Timor, pt, Mar de Timor, tet, Tasi Mane or ) is a relatively shallow sea bounded to the north by the island of Timor, to the east by the Arafura Sea, and to the south by Australia. The sea contains a number of reefs, ...

, in what was one of the worst environmental disasters in Australian history.

References

External links

{{Authority control Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Companies listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange Companies established in 2005 Petroleum industry in Norway Drilling rig operators Service companies of Norway Companies of Bermuda Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2017 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020