Release dated 1 May 2019, Gulf International Services announced that Gulf Drilling International (“GDI”), a wholly owned subsidiary of GIS, has executed a joint venture agreement with Seadrill limited to service the Qatar Petroleum North Field Expansion drilling program.
The joint venture, which will be established by Qatar Financial Centre under a 50:50 ownership structure, will be named “GulfDrill”.The joint venture is formed to support the execution of the drilling contracts which have been awarded to GDI. GDI has no required capital contribution to the joint venture. GDI will be subcontracted by the joint venture to mobilize and manage the rigs to meet the requirements of the drilling contracts.
The joint venture will source rigs directly from Seadrill, and any additional rigs required will be sourced from an unrelated third-party shipyard.The firm terms of the well-based contracts will commence in 2020 with initial terms concluding in 2023 and 2024 and an estimated total contract value (including mobilization income) ofQR 2.39 billion. The contracts include single well-based options which could add up to an estimated 13.7 cumulative years of term and an additional contract value of QR 2.55 billion.
The options could be exercised only if the contractual stipulations are realized prior to the end of the firm contracts period. If the options are exercised by the customer at a later date, GIS will announce the award of the options accordingly.
Commenting on this, Mr. William Ceppi, GDI's Chief Executive Officer, stated, “We are pleased with the continued collaboration with our joint venture partner.
We look forward to working closely with all stakeholders on this significant project and we remain honored to be entrusted to continue our safe and efficient operations for Qatar Petroleum.”The joint venture comes in line with GIS's strategy to capture new business opportunities that would potentially help increase revenues and ultimately maximize shareholder value.