Seadrill Ltd. has agreed to sell its Qatar jackup fleet and its 50% equity interest in the joint venture that operates these rigs offshore Qatar to joint venture partner Gulf Drilling International (GDI) for $338 million.

 The sale of the three jack-up rigs—the West Castor, the West Telesto and the West Tucana, is subject to certain conditions, including approval or non-objection of the Qatar Financial Centre Authority and approval of the shareholders of GDI’s parent company.

The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2024.

“Our divestiture of the Qatar jackup fleet and exit from the joint venture are consistent with our ongoing efforts to strengthen and simplify our business and will allow us to focus on Seadrill’s core business: operating deepwater rigs across the Golden Triangle and similarly advantaged geographies,” Simon Johnson, president and CEO of Seadrill, said in a press release.

Seadrill also announced its board of directors increased the company’s aggregate share repurchase authorization, allowing the company to repurchase up to an additional $500 million of its outstanding common shares over a two-year period once the current share repurchase program is completed.

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