Maersk Drilling divests from Venezuela drilling barges
www.petroglobalnews.com, 17th September 2014
Denmark-based Maersk Drilling divested from its drilling barge activities in Venezuela Wednesday, handing its operations over to Panama-based investment company Barrystar Holding. The activities, registered to Maritime Contractors Venezuela (MCVSA), include the ownership and operation of 10 cantilevered offshore drilling barges working on Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela. All the drilling barges are on contract with Venezuela’s state owned PDVSA. Marsek said the accounting gain is positive for Maersk Drilling but insignificant for the Maersk Group. In 2013, MCVSA booked $195 million in revenue. Maersk Drilling has been operating in Venezuela since 1992 and announced last year that it would stop investing in MCVSA and would look to divest from the company. The divestment is part of Maersk Drilling’s plan to focus on developing and growing its ultra deepwater and ultra harsh environment segments. “We are proud to hand over a well-functioning company with further potential to Barrystar which is committed long term to Venezuela and to the further development and expansion of the company,” CEO of Maersk Drilling Claus V. Hemmingsen said.