Smedvig ASA, ("Smedvig"), ( OSE: SME,

NYSE The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed co ...

: SMVA) was a Norwegian offshore

oil rig {{about, , the mnemonic OIL RIG, Redox An oil rig is any kind of apparatus constructed for oil drilling. Kinds of oil rig include: * Drilling rig, an apparatus for on-land oil drilling * Drillship, a floating apparatus for offshore oil drilling * ...

company

headquarter Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top ...

ed in

Stavanger Stavanger (, , US usually , ) is a city and municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the administrative center of Rogaland county. T ...

until it was acquired (January 2006) by rig newcomer

SeaDrill Seadrill is a deepwater drilling contractor for the petroleum industry. It is incorporated in Bermuda for tax purposes and managed from London and Houston The company operates semi-submersible platforms, jackup rigs and drillships. History Sead ...

of tanker mogul

John Fredriksen John Fredriksen (born 10 May 1944) is a Norwegian-born Cypriot oil tanker and shipping billionaire businessman based in London. He owns the world's largest oil tanker fleet and has major interests in the offshore driller Seadrill, the fish farmi ...

. At time of the merger Smedvig operated two semi submersibles, one drillship and one jack up rig in the Norwegian and British sector of the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

. A fleet of seven tender rigs were operated in South East Asia from the Singaporean subsidiary Smedvig Asia. As part of the merger, Smedvig's staff was transferred to Seadrill with Smedvig senior personnel assuming key positions in Seadrill (CEO, CFO etc.). Smedvig was delisted from the OSE and NYSE, while Seadrill is listed on the

Oslo Stock Exchange Oslo Stock Exchange ( no, Oslo Børs) (OSE: OSLO) is a stock exchange within the Nordic countries and offers Norway’s only regulated markets for securities trading today. The stock exchange offers a full product range including equities, deriv ...

History

Smedvig started in 1915 as the

shipping Freight transport, also referred as ''Freight Forwarding'', is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been ex ...

company Peder Smedvig Shipping Company by Peder Smedvig. Between 1917 and 1959 Smedvig was also in the

canning Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container ( jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, althoug ...

industry. In the 1960s the company entered the oil age with investments in supply ships,

oil tankers An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk transport of oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined c ...

and in 1973 the first drilling rig. The company acquired multiple rigs throughout the 1970s and 1980s and in 1988 it bought the competitor Dyvi Offshore. In 1989 the company was reorganised as a

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

for the Smedvig family's drilling operations and in 1990 the company was listed on the

. Between 1991 and 1998 the company was also engaged in floating oil production. In January 2006,

Seadrill Seadrill is a deepwater drilling contractor for the petroleum industry. It is incorporated in Bermuda for tax purposes and managed from London and Houston The company operates semi-submersible platforms, jackup rigs and drillships. History Sead ...

won a bidding war against U.S. drilling rig company

Noble Corporation Noble Corporation plc is an offshore drilling contractor organized in London, United Kingdom. Its affiliate, Noble Corporation, is organized in the Cayman Islands. It is the corporate successor of Noble Drilling Corporation. The company operat ...

, and subsequently acquired Smedvig ASA for an equity value of NOK 15 bn (USD 2.4 bn). The purchase was Fredriksen's largest deal to date.

References

{{Portal, Norway, Energy, Companies Drilling rig operators Service companies of Norway Transport companies established in 1915 Energy companies established in 1915 Holding companies established in 1989 Norwegian companies established in 1915 Holding companies disestablished in 2006 2006 disestablishments in Norway