Noble’s high‑spec drillship duo wins $620M US Gulf extensions with BP

October 3, 2025, by Dragana Nikše

The U.K.’s oil and gas major BP has prolonged the stay of two drillships from the fleet of the U.S.-headquartered offshore drilling giant Noble Corporation in the Gulf of America (previously known as the Gulf of Mexico).

Noble BlackHornet; Source: Noble Corporation

Thanks to the extensions, Noble BlackLion and Noble BlackHornet are set to stay for two more years with BP in the U.S. Gulf, the former until September 2028 and the latter until February 2029. The total firm contract value over the combined four years is approximately $620 million.

Robert Eifler, President and Chief Executive Officer of Noble Corporation, stated: “We are extremely pleased to continue these high specification drillships’ long term assignments with bp in the U.S. Gulf which will now be approaching one decade in tenure. We look forward to building on these rig lines’ track record of safe and efficient drilling operations.”

Both the 2014-built BlackHornet and the 2015-built Black Lion are ultra-deepwater drillships of Gusto P10,000 DW design. Their maximum drilling depth is 40,000 feet, or 12,192 meters, and they can accommodate 210 people each.

This follows a new contract Noble picked up with Amni International Petroleum Development Company in Ghana for the Noble Venturer drillship. Set to start in late 2026 or early 2027, the deal encompasses one exploration well with an estimated total duration of 55 days.