Smedvig to supervise construction of SeaDrill drilling units

Feb 23, 2006, Smedvig has entered into an agreement with SeaDrill Limited for construction supervision and marketing of four semi-submersible drilling units currently under construction in Singapore and South Korea.

The two units that are being built in Singapore at the Jurong Shipyard are deepwater semi-submersible drilling units for benign waters designed to operate in water depths up to approximately 2,500 meters. The two units that are being built at the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering in South Korea are ultra deepwater semi-submersible drilling units tailor-made for harsh environment and designed to operate in water depths up to approximately 3,000 meters. All four units are equipped with dynamic positioning systems.

It is the intension that the agreement over time also will include operation of the units, following delivery from the yard in 2008.

The management agreement is at a later stage likely to include two drillship contracted by the current SeaDrill subsidiary Mosvold Drilling Ltd.

This news release includes forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect current views with respect to future events and are, by their nature, subject to significant risks and uncertainties, because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. Many factors could influence actual developments and performance and could cause them differ materially from those described by these forward-looking statements. For a discussion of these factors please see “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year 2004 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and available on our website at www.smedvig.com

Contact Information

Alf C Thorkildsen

CFO

Smedvig

Contact via E-mail