Seadrill Ltd. has sold the West Prospero rig to an undisclosed buyer for $45 million, exiting the jack-up sector.

“With the sale of the West Prospero, we have monetized a non-core asset that has been stacked since 2016 and successfully executed on our strategy to exit the benign jack-up market”, president and chief executive Simon Johnson said in an online statement.

Hamilton, Bermuda-based Seadrill’s latest fleet status report, published November 12, showed West Prospero had been in Malaysia without a contract.

West Prospero was built 2007 in Singapore. It measures 234 feet x 208 feet x 25 feet. The vessel has a maximum water depth of 400 feet and maximum drilling depth of 30,000 feet. West Prospero flies the Panamanian flag, according to online information from Seadrill.

On June 25 Seadrill said it had completed the divestment of three jackup rigs and its 50 percent stake in the joint venture that operates these rigs in Qatar for $338 million. Seadrill’s joint venture partner Gulf Drilling International took over West Castor, West Telesto and West Tucana.

“Our divestiture of the Qatar Jack-Up 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”, Johnson said in a statement May 16 announcing the transaction with Gulf Drilling.

“We believe that our strengthened liquidity position upon completion of the jack-up sale, coupled with our conviction in the deepwater floater market outlook and Seadrill’s competitive positioning within it, supports the expansion of our share repurchase program”.

Seadrill said at the time it had raised its share buyback plan to as much as $500 million over two years.

In another simplification move, Seadrill delisted from the Oslo Stock Exchange on September 9 to focus on its United States shares.

“A single listing on the NYSE [New York Stock Exchange] is most appropriate for Seadrill’s strategy, development, and size”, Johnson said June 7.

At the end of the third quarter Seadrill had a gross principal debt of $625 million and cash and cash equivalents of $592 million for a net debt position of $33 million, according to results it published November 12.

In other recent fleet developments, Petróleo Brasileiro SA contracted Seadrill’s ultra-deepwater drillships West Jupiter and Wes Tellus for work in Brazil.

West Jupiter secured a 1,095-day deployment via competitive bidding. Expected to start in the first quarter of 2026, the contract adds about $493 million to Seadrill’s order backlog, Seadrill said in a statement December 17.

West Tellus also won a 1,095-day contract with an option for an additional 305 days. Expected to begin in the first quarter of 2026, the work for the Sépia and Atapu fields in the Santos Basin contributes around $498 million to Seadrill’s order backlog.

“This contract and the recently announced award for West Jupiter deepens our relationship with a key customer at the heart of the deepwater market”, Johnson said in a separate statement. “These fixtures provide approximately $1 billion of additional backlog and a meaningful uplift to earnings and free cash flow beginning in 2026”.

To contact the author, email jov.onsat@rigzone.com