Noble Corporation: Rig contract extension in Australia, termination in Brazil?

International offshore drilling contractor Noble Corporation has secured a contract extension for its Noble Clyde Boudreaux semi-submersible drilling rig in Australia.

The UK-based company said that the drillship would remain with Shell in Australia until late September 2015 on a $515.000 day rate.  The contract extension will become effective in April next year.

Elsewhere, Noble said that the Noble Paul Wolff semi-submersible drilling rig, working for Petrobras in Brazil, will undergo up to 45 days of downtime during 1Q2014/2Q2014 following a ballast control incident last month.

The company reported a ballast control incident on February 28, 2014. Since the incident, the rig has experienced operational downtime at zero dayrate and is expected to remain at zero dayrate through completion of rig recovery and well abandonment procedures.

Related: Noble Paul Wolff rig stable following tilting in Brazil

“Unrelated to the ballast control incident, the Company is currently engaged in a discussion with our client relating to an early termination of the contract. If concluded, the contract termination would take effect upon completion of rig restoration efforts and well abandonment procedures. Once complete, the rig is expected to demobilize to a shipyard in Asia where the Company will evaluate market opportunities,” Noble Corp. said in its fleet status report.

The Noble Paul Wolff original contract with Petrobras is valid until early November 2014.

Noble performs, through its subsidiaries, contract drilling services with a fleet of 79 offshore drilling units (including two ultra-deepwater drillships and five high-specification jack-up drilling rigs currently under construction), located worldwide, including in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and Alaska, Mexico, Brazil, the North Sea, the Mediterranean, West Africa, the Middle East, India, Malaysia and Australia.