London, United Kingdom, July 3, 2018 - Seadrill Partners LLC ("SDLP" or "the Company") announces today that the English High Court has ruled in favor of its subsidiary Seadrill Ghana Operations Limited ("Seadrill Ghana") relating to the early termination of the West Leo contract by Tullow Ghana Limited ("Tullow").
Seadrill Ghana was seeking to recover standby and force majeure rates and early termination fees of $278 million plus interest and legal expenses. The English High Court has ruled that a total sum of approximately $273 million is either payable to Seadrill Ghana if a suitable parent company guarantee from the Company is provided or into court within 14 days of today's judgment.
Tullow has indicated that it is considering its options to appeal to the Court of Appeal after an initial application for permission to appeal was rejected by the presiding judge at today's hearing.
All figures above are quoted inclusive of applicable withholding tax and VAT. Seadrill Ghana estimates that the net judgment sum due (inclusive of interest and legal expenses) will be around $250 million.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
This news release includes forward looking statements. Such statements are generally not historical in nature, and specifically include statements about the Company's plans, strategies, business prospects, changes and trends in its business and the markets in which it operates. In particular, statements regarding offshore drilling markets, the Company's ability to make cash distributions, the expected performance of the drilling units in the Company's fleet, estimated duration of customer contracts, contract dayrate amounts, contract backlog, forecasts of operating income and Adjusted EBITDA and the ability of the Company and Seadrill Limited to negotiate with lenders are considered forward looking statements. These statements are made based upon management's current plans, expectations, assumptions and beliefs concerning future events impacting the Company and therefore involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this news release. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to offshore drilling market conditions including supply and demand, dayrates, customer drilling programs and effects new rigs on the market, contract awards and rig mobilizations, contract backlog, the performance of the drilling units in the Company's fleet, delay in payment or disputes with customers, the outcome of any pending litigation, our ability to successfully employ our drilling units, procure or have access to financing, ability to comply with loan covenants, liquidity and adequacy of cash flow from operations, fluctuations in the international price of oil, changes in governmental regulations that affect the Company or the operations of the Company's fleet, increased competition in the offshore drilling industry, and general economic, political and business conditions globally. Consequently, no forward looking statement can be guaranteed. When considering these forward-looking statements, you should keep in mind the risks described from time to time in the Company's filings with the SEC. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of these factors. Further, the Company cannot assess the impact of each such factor on its business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to be materially different from those contained in any forward-looking statement.
