Noble Corporation Secures New Contract for Semisubmersible Rig

Offshore drilling giant Noble Corporation has recently announced a new contract for one of its semisubmersible rigs in the Americas. Energy giant Shell has awarded a contract to the 2009-built Noble Developer semisub, with the deal set for a fixed duration of 180 days expected to commence in the third quarter of 2026.

The firm contract value for the deal is approximately $70 million, which includes mobilization and demobilization costs. The Noble Developer has been available for work without a contract for some time, with its previous contract also awarded by Shell for work off Brazil between April and August 2023.

During its previous contract, the rig worked for $411,000 per day, with the new contract’s daily rate slightly lower at around $390,000. Blake Denton, Noble’s Senior Vice President of Marketing and Contracts, expressed excitement about continuing the successful partnership with Shell in the region.

Prior to this new contract, the Noble Developer will drill three wells offshore Suriname for Petronas under an $84 million contract expected to begin around June 2025, with an estimated duration of 200 days.

In a related development, Noble Corporation has announced plans to divest the cold-stacked Pacific Scirocco and Pacific Meltem drillships, retiring them permanently from drilling operations. The rigs have been stacked for several years, with Pacific Scirocco last working in 2017 and Pacific Meltem in 2020.