History

In January 2006, Seadrill acquired the Norwegian drilling contractor Smedvig (originating from a long line of shipowning activities dating back to 1915). The combination - under the Seadrill Limited banner - is one of the world's fastest growing drilling contractors.

Seadrill's historical timeline

2009

• Delivery of deepwater semis West Aquarius and West Eminence
• Disposal of jack-up rig West Ceres 
• Condemnation of  jack-up rig West Atlas

2008

• Awarded contract by Petrobras in Brazil, contract value US$ 4.1 billion
• Ordered four jack-ups 
• Ordered West Berani III
• Ordered West Capricorn 
• Delivery of deepwater semis - West Phoenix, West Sirius, West Taurus, West Hercules 
• Delivery of ultra deepwater drillships - West Polaris, West Capella

2007

• Ordered West Gemini and West Orion
• Well Services division established as an independent company Seawell Limited
• Ordered West Berani II
• Delivery of West Prospero and West Atlas
• Delivery of T10
• Office in Houston established

2006

• Acquired Smedvig asa
• Acquired Mosvold Drilling (West Polaris and West Capella) 
• Ordered West Ariel  
• Ordered T11 
• Ordered West Aquarius

2005  

• Seadrill Limited established 10 May as a Bermuda-based company with an offshore drilling fleet consisting of three jack-up rigs, two FPSOs, four newbuild jack-up rigs and two newbuild semi-submersibles.
• Seadrill Limited was listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (ticker SDRL).
• West Sirius and West Taurus ordered at the Jurong yard in Singapore 
• Acquired Odfjell Invest Ltd 
• Acquired ownership shares in Apexindo, the largest on- and offshore drilling company in Indonesia. The fleet consists of four swamp barges and 11 land rigs. 
• Increased ownership share in Eastern Drilling (West E-drill and West Eminence)
• West Hercules ordered at the Daewoo yard in South Korea
• West Atlas, West Triton, West Ceres, West Prospero  ordered
• Ordered T10

2000   - Delivery of West Navigator and West Venture

1997   - Acquired Petrodrill including T8 and West Pelaut  

1993   - Acquired West Epsilon

1990   - Acquired the tender rig drilling contractor 
               Robray Offshore in Singapore

1988   - Acquired the drilling contractor Dyvi Offshore

1987   - Awarded the Veslefrikk contract by Statoil

1981   - The first production drilling contract,
               awarded by Statoil for the the Statfjord field in Norway

1977   - The first production drilling contract, awarded
                by Unocal for the Heather field in the UK

1973   - Construction of West Venture I , the first
               Norwegian-owned semi-submersible drilling unit

1972   - Smedvig Drilling established 

In 2005, Seadrill Engineering was awarded the contract for modification of the drilling facilities on Statfjord field, a significant part of the Statfjord Late Life Project.

In 2004, the company reentered the UK platform drilling market with a four-year contract, covering all Shell's 12 platforms on the UK continental shelf. Seadrill Engineering was established the same year.

In October 2001, the new semi-submersible self-erecting tender rig West Alliance , similar to the design of West Menang , was delivered from the yard in Singapore. The company simultaneously exercised its option to increase ownership interest in the rig from 28 per cent to 100 per cent. In July 2002, the unit was awarded a three-year deepwater drilling contract by Unocal in Indonesia, the first deepwater tender rig operation ever awarded.

In January 1998, the company signed an agreement to build an advanced semi-submersible tender rig against a five-year operating contract in South-East Asia. The unit was delivered in April 1999 and named West Menang.

In 1997, after restructuring the rig fleet in order to focus on the upper end of the worldwide offshore drilling market, Seadrill ordered a fifth-generation semi-submersible drilling rig and one deepwater drillship. The company contracted these new units against five-year or longer operating contracts with major oil companies. Both were delivered in February 2000.

In 1993, Seadrill acquired one of the world's largest harsh-environment jack-up drilling rigs, West Epsilon and was awarded a long-term contract on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, on the Sleipner field.

In 1990, Seadrill increased its international presence by acquiring Robray Offshore Drilling Company Ltd, a tender rig company headquartered in Singapore. Later in 1991 and 1994, four tender rigs were sold to a Malaysian company, Varia Perdana, a joint venture where Seadrill has a 49 per cent ownership interest.

The company expanded its drilling business with the construction of West Vanguard in 1982 and West Vision in 1986 and by purchasing one of the largest operators of mobile drilling units in Norway, Dyvi Offshore, in 1988.

Since 1977, when the company was awarded its first platform drilling contract by Unocal on the Heather field in the UK sector, Seadrill has held several platform drilling contracts on both the UK and Norwegian continental shelves, among others, since 1981 and still continuing, the production drilling contract on the Statfjord field.

Long before the first discovery in the North Sea was made the day before Christmas Eve 1969, Seadrill, while operating as Smedvig, entered into the offshore oil and gas industry in 1965 by investing in the exploration company NOCO and a fleet of supply vessels. In 1973, further investments in the offshore industry were made through the design, development and construction of the first Norwegian-owned semi-submersible drilling unit West Venture (I).

At the beginning of the oil and gas era on the Norwegian continental shelf, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Seadrill's predecessor company Smedvig Drilling was established.