TotalEnergies books Noble drillship for work in Oceania

France’s energy giant TotalEnergies has picked a drillship owned by Noble Corporation, a U.S.-based offshore drilling player, for a drilling campaign off the coast of Papua New Guinea in the southwestern Pacific.

Following the recently announced one-firm well plus one option well contract with Shell in Brunei, the 2013-built Noble Viking has won another deal for one firm well plus one option well in Papua New Guinea. This assignment with TotalEnergies is expected to start in Q4 2025 in direct continuation from a previous contract.

The firm contract will span approximately 47 days with an estimated value of $34.2 million, including mobilization and demobilization fees, and managed pressure drilling (MPD) usage, but excluding variable performance bonus.

The rig was expected to begin its three-well job with Prime Energy in June 2025 at the Malampaya-Camago field off the coast of the Philippines, which was set to commence in direct continuation of the drillship’s contract in Malaysia with Shell.

With a maximum drilling depth of 40,000 feet (circa 12 kilometers), the Noble Viking drillship, which can accommodate 230 people, can work in water depths of 12,000 feet (3.66 kilometers). Noble’s $5.8 billion in February 2025 and $4.4 billion in May 2024.

Given its decarbonization plans, the rig owner recently made progress in carbon capture and storage (CCS) rig technology, as illustrated by DNV’s technical qualification (TQ).