Offshore driller Noble Corporation has bagged several new contracts and contract extensions for its drilling units, according to its latest fleet status report.
The Texas-based player has been awarded a new contract with Apache for the 2011-built drillship Noble Gerry de Souza for one firm well and two one-well options offshore Suriname. The contract commences in February next year at undisclosed terms.
Meanwhile, the 2014-built jackup Noble Sam Hartley has been booked by Perenco for one firm well offshore UK until December 2021, while the 2013-built drillship Noble Faye Kozack , formerly Pacific Khamsin, has secured two new contracts in the US Gulf of Mexico with Murphy for four firm wells, and QuarterNorth Energy for one firm well and three one-well options. Murphy booked the rig until February 2022, paying $215,000 per day, while QuarterNorth will be paying $290,000 per day between April and August 2022.
As for the contract extensions, Santos added nine additional one-well options to the contract of the 2014-built jackup Noble Tom Prosser, currently drilling off Timor-Leste. Equinor has also taken the first of 12 one-well options on the 2016-built jackup Noble Lloyd Noble off Norway, while IOG exercised the first of two one-well options on the 2008-built jackup Noble Hans Deul in the UK.
At the end of Q3 2021, the company’s estimated revenue backlog totalled around $1.5bn. Noble reported total liquidity of $588mn consisting of $112m in cash and $476m available under its revolving credit. This month, the company completed the sale of four jackup rigs working in Saudi Arabia with $285m in cash expected from the transaction and entered into a merger agreement with Maersk Drilling.
