ADES to Buy Maersk Convincer Jack-up Rig for $42.5M

Danish offshore drilling company Maersk Drilling has agreed to sell its jack-up rig drilling rig Maersk Convincer to ADES for $42.5 million in cash.

The benign environment offshore drilling rig is expected to be delivered to ADES after the completion of the rig's current drilling assignment with Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP).

A Baker Pacific Class 375 cantilever jack-up rig delivered in 2008, the Maersk Convincer has been operating offshore Brunei Darussalam since 2017.

Maersk Drilling has reached an agreement with Brunei Shell Petroleum to release the rig from its current contract upon completion of Maersk Convincer’s current drilling program, which is expected to be completed in August 2022 and not later than September 15, 2022.

End of an era

Christine Morris, Maersk Drilling's CFO, said: "This transaction will contribute to the optimization of our fleet in line with Maersk Drilling’s strategic priorities of maintaining a fleet of modern, high-end assets and concentrating our jack-up activities in the harsh environments of the North Sea. Though the sale marks the end of an era of proud operations and exemplary collaboration with BSP – a joint venture between the government of Brunei Darussalam and the Shell group of companies – during which our rigs have won multiple Shell Group Jack-up of the Year awards, the Southeast Asian jack-up market is not key to us."

After the sale, Maersk Drilling’s rig fleet counts 10 jack-up rigs, all of which are suited for operations in harsh environments, and eight floaters.

Worth noting, ADES last week also agreed to buy four jack-up drilling rigs from the Indian offshore drilling contractor Aban Offshore for $106 million. Read more here.

With these purchases, ADES, whose clients include both national oil companies, such as Saudi Aramco and Kuwait Oil Company, as well as joint ventures of NOCs with global majors including BP and Eni, is continuing its fleet expansion program. The company last year also bought jack-up drilling rigs from Noble Corporation and Vantage Drilling, too.