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Fredriksen Committed to Seadrill as Partner Quits

Published Sep 19, 2014 12:30 PM by The Maritime Executive

A top executive at Norway's Seadrill , the world's largest rig company by market capitalization, quit the board on Friday, sending the firm's shares 4 percent lower.

Tor Olav Troeim, who until recently was referred to as the right-hand man of big Seadrill shareholder John Fredriksen, will not seek reelection to the board of Seadrill, minutes from the annual general meeting showed on Friday. Seadrill said in a statement Troeim would focus his efforts on developing liquefied natural gas shipping firm Golar LNG . Troeim was not immediately available for comment.

The company's shares were 4 percent lower at 1426 GMT, lagging the Oslo benchmark index's 0.11 percent fall.

Troeim announced in July he would withdraw from the boards of several of Fredriksen's companies "to focus his resources on fewer investments" but said at the time he would stay on the board of Seadrill. In July Troeim owned 2.64 million shares in Seadrill. Friday's statement did not say whether he would sell his stake.

Troeim, who has worked with shipping billionaire Fredriksen since the 1990s, had been instrumental in turning Seadrill from a small Norwegian rig firm into a major player in the oil sector.

On Friday, Fredriksen reaffirmed his commitment to Seadrill, in which he is the biggest investor with a 24 percent stake.

"I consider my stake in Seadrill a long-term investment and investors can rest assured that no divestment is considered for (the) foreseeable future," Fredriksen said in the statement. "The Board has gone to great lengths to build a strong and independent management team and we are pleased with the results of our efforts.  The team we have in place has a long history with the company and brings the energy and leadership required to drive results going forward. Although the market currently is challenging, the long term fundamentals of the offshore drilling business are well intact.  I look forward to many years of growth and profitability with this world-class organization."

Seadrill shares have fallen by a quarter since the beginning of the year as oil companies curtail spending, hitting the rig sector hard, and due to international sanctions against Russia that are threatening a major partnership Seadrill has with oil producer Rosneft.