Seadrill Ltd. (SDRL) Rose After $1.4B Contract from ConocoPhillips

Seadrill Ltd. (NYSE:SDRL) on April 11 rose 9.31% to $0.89 to open the markets in green, after oil giant ConocoPhillips Skandinavia AS granted a Seadrill subsidiary an estimated $1.4 billion of additional backlog orders in a 10-year contract.

The news sent the stocks higher at opening bell as Seadrill Ltd. (NYSE:SDRL) majority-owned subsidiary North Atlantic Drilling Ltd. was awarded the contract for the West Elara and West Linus orders. As part of the agreement, the subsidiary has agreed to a dayrate adjustment on the existing West Linus contract effective from April 2017, resulting in a $58 million reduction in current backlog.

The new West Elara contract is expected to commence October 2017, while the contract on West Linus has been extended from May 2019 until the end of 2028. The awards are subject to ConocoPhillips receiving partner approvals for the contracts, Seadrill Ltd. (NYSE:SDRL) said in a press release.

Seadrill, with a market cap of $410 million, is a deepwater drilling contractor which provides drilling services to the oil and gas industry.

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What Does The Smart Money Sentiment Say?

The Smart Money slightly shied away from shares of the oilfield equipment and services company as we saw a decline. Out of the 742 hedge funds we track at Insider Monkey, only 17 funds held on to their shares valued at $52 million in the fourth quarter of 2016, compared to 18 funds which had Seadrill shares valued at $33 million in the third quarter of the same year.

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The Bottom Line

While the Smart Money showed less confidence on Seadrill Ltd. (NYSE:SDRL) shares quarter over quarter, Wall Street saw an uptick in prices today following a 10-year contract with oil giant ConocoPhillips valued at $1.4 billion. Here’s a nice feature on 10 largest oil tanker shipping companies in the world.