The agreement was to form part of a larger plan for Rosneft to acquire 30-percent of NADL in exchange for 150 onshore rigs and cash. The European Union imposed a ban on the export of Arctic exploration technology to Russia on August 1, 2014, effectively freezing the NADL-Rosneft deal.
Kommersant cites Bermuda-registered Seadrill’s second quarter report as saying that the company's shareholders have filed three lawsuits in the Court for the Southern District of New York.
In March, US District Judge Lorna Schofield consolidated three fraud class action suits, filed in December 2014, according to a summary published by the Shareholders Foundation.
The Russian publication says the plaintiffs allege that the NYSE-listed company hid the risks associated with the Rosneft contract, which has been postponed until March 2017.
As of Thursday, NADL shares had fallen by a factor of nearly 13, while Seadrill stocks were trading 5.6 times lower than a year ago.
Seadrill is chaired by Norwegian-born magnate John Fredriksen.
The European Union, along with the United States and their allies, imposed a series of restrictive measures on Russia due to Moscow’s alleged involvement in Ukraine’s regional dispute with independence militias. Russia firmly denies the allegations.
