Odfjell Drilling contemplating spin-off of well services, energy segments

Odfjell Drilling is contemplating spinning off its well services and energy segments into a newly established company, Odfjell Technology.

The company said in a statement that the spin-off would enable “all parts of the business to think beyond their existing core activities, capabilities, markets, and competitive environment to evolve and strengthen their position to meet the needs of customers in the energy transition phase and towards the anticipated increasing activity levels in the global oil and gas industry.” 

Odfjell’s energy segment consists of platform drilling, engineering and projects, as well as a 21% ownership in Odfjell Oceanwind, a company focused on developing mobile offshore wind units providing flexible energy solutions to offshore infrastructure. Prior to executing the spin off, an internal reorganization will be carried out and the relevant well services and energy companies will become subsidiaries of Odfjell Technology.

Odfjell Drilling would continue as an offshore drilling contractor following the spin-off. Odfjell Drilling has four fully owned high-specification, harsh environment semisubmersibles: Deepsea Atlantic, Deepsea Stavanger, Deepsea Aberdeen and Deepsea Nordkapp. In addition, Odfjell Drilling now has three harsh environment semisubmersible drilling units under marketing and management services, namely Deepsea Yantai, West Mira and West Bollsta.

“Odfjell Drilling has through our people and assets demonstrated a strong track record for delivering safe, efficient and high-quality operations to our clients,” said Simen Lieungh, CEO of Odfjell Drilling. Splitting the MODU and services segments into two groups, allows us greater flexibility to proactively respond to the changes and opportunities facing the industry. We strongly believe that the timing for this is good as the company is financially healthy and prepared to stand alone as two separate entities. Increased management focus within Odfjell Technology will further allow those segments to think beyond their existing core services and evolve for the future. We are excited about this next chapter in the Odfjell Drilling story and the possibilities it will bring.”