Spetalen buys stake in Prospector

Rig action: Oystein Stray Spetalen

ALEKSANDER NORDAHL/DN

related stories

Steve Marshall

 31 January 2013 12:01 GMT

Norwegian rig investor Oystein Stray Spetalen has acquired a significant shareholding in Oslo-listed contractor Prospector Offshore Drilling.

Spetalen’s investment vehicle Nordic Construction Barges II and associated companies now own a stake of 10.6% in the company following the acquisition of more than 10 million shares, Prospector revealed in a bourse statement on Thursday.

Both Prospector and Standard Drilling, another Norwegian rig contractor backed by Spetalen, have been engaged in similar sell-off exercises for newbuild rigs under construction at South-East Asian yards.

Prospector now has four remaining jack-ups on order at Chinese yards Dalian Shipbuilding and Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding having earlier sold two of the rigs, and has a further six newbuild options for similar units.

Standard meanwhile has disposed of six…

Become an Upstream member!

Membership includes a subscription to our weekly newspaper providing in-depth news from the energy industry, plus full-access to this site and its archives. Still not convinced? Try our free trial.

Already a member?

Login

Upstream share price index