BP books Noble rig for carbon storage gig in North Sea

U.S.-headquartered offshore drilling giant Noble Corporation has landed a new multi-well assignment in the North Sea with BP, the UK-headquartered energy giant.  

The new contract with BP will enable the Noble Innovator jack-up rig to drill six firm wells for the Northern Endurance Partnership Project (NEP) in the North Sea, as the UK-based player provides operatorship services to NEP.

Blake Denton, SVP Marketing and Contracts at Noble, commented: “Supporting the Northern Endurance Partnership advances our role in delivering the well infrastructure behind the UK’s net-zero ambitions. This award reinforces our leadership in offshore carbon storage, and we value the continued trust that BP places in our crews.”

This drilling assignment, slated to begin in Q3 2026, includes an option for two additional wells and is in direct continuation of the jack-up’s current contract with BP, which the rig owner originally secured for a year in December 2022 at a day rate of $135,000, with a one-year option at a higher day rate. 

The UK firm added a one-well option to the work scope of the ultra-harsh environment jack-up rig in 2023, when the duo also agreed to amend and expand the options structure in the contract, enabling options to extend the contract by up to six additional wells at pre-agreed day rates.

Afterward, BP handed out a two-well extension to the rig in December 2024 with an estimated duration of 200 days under the day rate of $155,000, prolonging the rig’s job up to November 2026. The 2003-built Noble Innovator jack-up rig is of Gusto MSC CJ 70–150 MC design. Constructed at Hyundai Heavy Industries in Korea, the rig can accommodate 120 people. 

The Northern Endurance Partnership, encompassing BP, Equinor, and TotalEnergies, received a carbon storage permit in December 2024 from the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA). With an annual injection rate of 4 million tons for 25 years, the project could reach 100 million tons. A geophysical offshore survey was expected to kick off in March 2025.

Located around 75 kilometers east of Flamborough Head, off Teesside on England’s east coast, it is expected to enter construction in mid-2025, with the first injection as early as 2027, and start-up in 2028. 

The new assignment with BP comes shortly after Noble got a certificate related to carbon capture and storage (CCS) rig technology from DNV.