Noble Corp. set to stack more rigs

Offshore drilling contractor Noble Corporation is set to stack two semi-submersible drilling rigs and two drillships. 

The drilling contractor said in its latest fleet status report that the 1986-built Noble Dave Beard was under tow to Singapore where it would be cold stacked. Furthermore, Noble said, the Noble Jim Day was also preparing for cold stack.

Noble Dave Beard is an F&G 9500 enhanced pacesetter semi-sub drilling rig that previously worked for Petrobras in Brazil from mid-March 2010 until late April 2016.

Noble Jim Day semi-sub is of a Bingo 9000 design built in 1999 and upgraded in 2010. The rig’s last contract before it was set for cold-stacking was with Shell in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

Noble Corp. also added that two if its drillships, the Noble Sam Croft and Noble Tom Madden, were being prepared for warm-stacking following an early contract termination earlier this month with the oil and gas operator Freeport-McMoRan.

As the contracts were ended earlier than expected, the duo agreed for Freeport to make a payment to Noble of $540 million.

Noble also said in the fleet status report that the drillship Noble Bully I, working for Shell in the Gulf of Mexico, was subject to dayrate adjustment due to operating cost reduction. The rig’s dayrate was reduced from $491,000 to $488,000.

Offshore Energy Today Staff