Noble’s new jack-up rig leaves Singapore to begin first drilling deal

Noble Corporation’s recently bought Noble Johnny Whitstine jack-up rig has left Singapore to begin its first drilling contract in Saudi Arabia.

Noble said via social media last week that the Noble Johnny Whitstine jack-up was on the move and that it had left Singapore.

Noble bought the Gusto MSC CJ46 design jack-up rig from Singapore’s rig builder PaxOcean Group back in September 2018. The newbuild jack-up was built at the PaxOcean Graha shipyard in Batam, Indonesia.

The rig design for moderate environments allows for operations in water depths of up to 375 feet and well depths of 30,000 feet.

The rig is on its way to Saudi Arabia where it is expected to start its three-year contract with Saudi Aramco next month. The rig is currently onboard the Eagle heavy lift vessel. According to AIS data, the vessel is now passing by the city of Galle, Sri Lanka.

Worth remind, at the time of the buy, Noble said it had an option to purchase a second newbuild CJ46 jack-up from PaxOcean.

Noble exercised the option to buy the second rig earlier this month. The offshore driller bought a second newbuild Gusto MSC CJ46 design jack-up rig, to be named Noble Joe Knight, from PaxOcean for $83.75 million. This rig too will work for Saudi Aramco.

Offshore Energy Today Staff