Sakhalin-1 Contractor Wins $9.6 Million Lawsuit Against U.S. Firm Parker Drilling
The Moscow Arbitration Court has granted the claim of Sakhalin Drilling Services LLC against its former American owner — Parker Drilling Management Services, Ltd. (PDMS) — in the amount of $9.854 million (944 million rubles, according to the court’s calculation), according to the case file materials from the arbitration registry.
“The claim is fully granted,” the registry states.
The court made this decision during a session held on July 17.
As previously reported, Sakhalin Drilling Services LLC filed the lawsuit on February 12, with the preliminary hearing being postponed several times. The nature of the claim is not disclosed, but it is stated to concern the performance of obligations under contracts.
Sakhalin Drilling Services was part of Parker Drilling until September 2022 and was previously known as Parker Drilling Far East Services. From September 2001 until the separation, the company was responsible for the operation and maintenance of drilling rigs involved in the Sakhalin-1 project.
Since September 2022, Sakhalin Drilling Services has been operating as an independent drilling company, providing drilling and material-technical support services for the Sakhalin-1 project. The operations include two offshore platforms — Orlan and Berkut (located at the Arkutin-Dagi field) and two onshore rigs for extended-reach drilling (ERD) — Yastreb and Krechet (located at the Chayvo and Odoptu fields). Currently, the Yastreb rig is in mothball mode.
According to Russia’s Unified State Register of Legal Entities (EGRUL), Sakhalin Drilling Services LLC is owned by Sakhalin Drilling LLC, of which Ruslan Rozeev and Antonina Sosnovskaya (who is also the General Director of Sakhalin Drilling Services) each hold 4.995%. The remaining 90.01% is on the company’s balance sheet.
PDMS provides onshore and offshore drilling services, as well as project management, construction, and operations support. The company operates globally.
