Jack-up rig specialist Borr Drilling has sold two jack-up drilling rigs and backlog associated with them effective from April 1, 2020, for $15.8 million.
The two jack-ups, the Dhabi II and Paragon B152, built in 1981 and 1982, respectively, are on contracts with UAE's ADNOC.
Borr Drilling said it will continue to operate the rigs under a services agreement "which will ensure continuity for our customer."
"The rigs are unencumbered, and the liquidity effect for the Company is equal to the sales proceeds. The company expects to record a gain of approximately $11.5 million," Borr Drilling said.
Borr Drilling explained that the sale of what it calls "standard" as opposed to "modern" drilling rigs was is in line with its long term strategy to focus on the operation of its core fleet of modern jack-up drilling rigs.
The company has so far this year taken delivery of two newbuild jack-ups from Keppel Shipyard, the Hild just last week, and the Heimdal in January.
Borr is expected to take delivery of five more newbuild jack-ups from Keppel, three in 2020, and two in 2022.
The Oslo-listed drilling company earlier this month received early contract terminations for five offshore drilling rigs, and warned that more terminations might be forthcoming, citing "the impact of current unprecedented market conditions and the global market reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic."