Rosneft to acquire Weatherford’s Russia and Venezuela land rig operations

Rosneft has signed agreements to acquire the land drilling and workover assets of Weatherford International in Russia and Venezuela for $500m.

Rosneft will acquire eight companies that are under the control of Weatherford. The rig operations in Russia have 61 land drilling crews and a fleet of workover rigs. The Venezuela operations include six land drilling rigs.

The rig operations generate about half of Weatherford’s total existing revenue in Russia and around one-third of the company’s business in Venezuela.

Rosneft said that the transaction will expand the service contractor’s array, increasing efficiency of drilling and hydrocarbons production and improving financial results.

Rosneft president Igor Sechin said that the agreement complies with the company’s adopted strategy of in-house service business development.

"The acquisition of Weatherford assets will allow to secure under the terms of maximum price transparency the most important regions of operation of the company with service and workover machinery," Sechin added.

Weatherford chairman, president and chief executive officer Bernard J Duroc-Danner said: "Following this sale, our remaining 115 international land drilling rigs, the majority of which are in the Middle East, are being prepared as planned for issuance in the public market in 2015 as an independent international drilling contractor."

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Image: Rosneft will acquire the land drilling and workover assets of Weatherford International in Russia and Venezuela. Photo: courtesy of suwatpo/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.