Offshore drilling giant Noble Corporation has announced several new rig deals in its latest fleet status report, and one rig sale.
The driller stated that three of its jackup rigs won more work with their respective charterers.
The 2008-built Noble Resolute won a one-year contract with Italian giant Eni in the Dutch part of the North Sea at a dayrate of $125,000. The contract is scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 2025. Eni also has options to extend the deal for up to 18 months.
The 2014-built Noble Interceptor was awarded a 150-day accommodation contract with Aker BP in Norway valued at $38.7m, including mobilisation and demobilisation. The contract will commence in August 2026.
The final jackup to get some more time is the 2013-built Noble Mick O’Brien. Its estimated completion of wells-in-progress was revised from April 2026 to November 2026.
The rig has been working in Qatar for Qatargas since October 2022. After the November 2026 end, the company has five one-well unpriced options.
The only non-jackup rig to get more work was the 2009-built semisub Noble Developer. Petronas exercised an option well in Suriname, which will add another 70 days to the rig’s stay. The extension will start in January 2026.
The rig has been working for the company since July 2025. The estimated end of the contract is in April 2026. It was initially contracted under a four-well, 270-day deal valued at approximately $111m, which includes mobilisation, demobilisation, and additional services.
In the previous fleet status report, announced in August, Noble stated that it was looking to offload the 2009-built jackup Noble Reacher and the 2013-built drillship Noble Globetrotter II. It successfully sold the jackup in October for $27.5m. The drillship is still up for sale.
With the contracts for the Noble BlackLion and Noble BlackHornet, which were reported by Splash earlier in October, Noble won approximately $740m in new contract value since the August fleet status report. The company’s backlog increased to $7bn, excluding mobilisation and demobilisation revenue.
Further, the previously announced sales of the jackup Noble Highlander and drillship Pacific Meltem closed in the third quarter, generating combined net proceeds of $87m.
“We achieved solid operational performance and cash flow in the third quarter, while several key contract awards have enabled Noble to expand backlog compared to prior quarter and year-ago levels,” said Robert Eifler, president and CEO of Noble.
Eifler also said during an earnings call that the Noble Globetrotter I drillship “could be a divestment candidate” if it doesn’t secure a new contract for the rig after it wraps up its obligations with OMV Petrom in Bulgaria. That contract is set to last from December 2025 until April 2026.
Another rig which could find its way to the chopping block is the Noble Deliverer semisub. Currently, the company’s semisubs have been attracting work at a solid level. However, the Noble Deliverer has no work scheduled, making it a solid candidate for sale. The only other semisub which has no work is the Ocean GreatWhite.
