DNO Norge books Noble jack-up rig for drilling gig in Norway

Offshore drilling contractor Noble Corporation has won a new short-term assignment for one of its jack-up rigs, which will undertake drilling activities off the coast of Norway for DNO Norge, a subsidiary of DNO, a Norwegian oil and gas operator.

The latest one-well contract with DNO Norge, which will enable the Noble Invincible ultra-harsh environment jack-up rig to drill an exploration well on PL1086 offshore Norway, is expected to begin in August 2024.

Commenting on the rig’s new job, Blake Denton, Noble’s SVP of Marketing & Contracts, remarked: “We are very pleased to announce this new contract with DNO Norge AS, which fits perfectly into a short gap on the Noble Invincible Aker BP well sequence.”

With an estimated duration of 40 days, the new contract will be executed during an option period in the rig’s existing commitment to Aker BP under the Aker BP Jack-up Alliance. This deal requires two weeks for BOP upgrades. Afterward, the jack-up is expected to resume operations for Aker BP in October 2024.

Previously, Aker BP contracted the rig under the frame agreement with Maersk Drilling in 2017 when the Aker BP Jack-up Alliance, including Halliburton, was established. In May 2022, the Norwegian player hired the rig on behalf of the Ivar Aasen license for three infill wells, which was not part of the deal to renew the frame agreement disclosed in December 2021.

The Noble Invincible rig secured more work with Aker BP after the Norwegian player entered into drilling and wells alliance agreements in January 2023 with Noble Corporation, Odfjell Drilling, and Halliburton to undertake drilling activities on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS).

The 2014-built Noble Invincible is a Gusto MSC CJ70 X150 MD jack-up rig, designed for year-round operations in the North Sea and featuring the capability to operate onshore power. The jack-up can accommodate 179 people. Capable of working in a water depth of 492 ft, the rig’s maximum drilling depth is 40,000 ft.

Noble Corporation got a hold of over $500 million in new contract awards since November 2023, thus, its total backlog stood at $4.6 billion last week. The offshore drilling giant recently announced a guidance range for total revenue of $2.55 to $2.7 billion and adjusted EBITDA in the range of $925 to $1,025 million for the full year 2024.