Drilling & Completion News

Noble set to enter Norwegian floater market

Noble Corp recently announced new contract awards for nine rigs comprising approximately $1.3 billion of backlog. These include a three-year contract for the harsh-environment semisubmersible Noble GreatWhite, which will expand the company’s existing Norway presence into the harsh-environment floater market.

The three-year contract with Aker BP for operations offshore Norway is expected to commence in Q2 2027. The award represents approximately $473 million of total contract value, including mobilization fees and excluding integrated services and bonus potential. This marks the Noble GreatWhite’s first campaign in Norway. In preparation for this campaign, Noble anticipates approximately $160 million of capital expenditures associated with reactivation and contract preparation activities.

Other new contracts announced were:

• A two-year contract for the Noble Gerry de Souza drillship, with up to three years of optional extensions, by Esso E&P Nigeria, an ExxonMobil affiliate. Operations are targeted for mid-2026, and the project is expected to add $292 million to Noble’s backlog. The company plans to upgrade the rig for managed pressure drilling ahead of this program.
• Two additional rig years of backlog with ExxonMobil under the Commercial Enabling Agreement in Guyana, which has been assigned evenly across the four drillships – Noble Sam Croft, Noble Don Taylor, Noble Tom Madden and Noble Bob Douglas – extending each rig through February 2029.
• A contract for the Noble BlackRhino  drillship for one workover well with Beacon Offshore Energy in the US Gulf, scheduled to commence in March 2026 with an estimated duration of 50 days. The contract includes an option for an additional well with an estimated duration of 100 days.
• An 11-well contract for the Noble Endeavor semi with an undisclosed operator in South America, estimated to commence in late 2026 at a dayrate of $300,000 plus mobilization and demobilization fees.
• A three-well contract with BP for the Noble Developer semi with an estimated duration of 240 days in Trinidad, scheduled to commence in Q1 2027 at a $375,000 dayrate. The contract includes options for up to three additional wells with an estimated combined duration of 240 days. Additionally, the previously announced three-year contract with TotalEnergies in Suriname that was formerly assigned to the Noble Developer has been transferred to the Noble Discoverer.

Chevron signs exploration agreements for Greece   

Chevron was awarded four offshore exploration leases in Greek waters, expanding its upstream footprint in the eastern Mediterranean.

The leases target areas in ultra-deepwater settings, some beyond 1,500 m of water, and cover the South Crete 1, South Crete 2, South of Peloponnese and Block A2 areas. Chevron will act as operator with a 70% working interest alongside HELLENiQ ENERGY, which holds the remaining 30%.

Initial work programs include 2D and 3D seismic acquisition to evaluate subsurface potential ahead of any future drilling activity.

Exploration well in Angola’s Block 15/06 strikes oil

Eni confirmed an oil discovery in the Algaita-01 exploration well in Block 15/06 offshore Angola. Preliminary estimates indicate oil in place of around 500 million barrels. The well was drilled by the Saipem 12000 drillship in a water depth of 667 m. The discovery is located just 18 km from the Olombendo FPSO, enhancing its development prospect.

Equinor extends contract for West Saturn into sixth year 

Seadrill announced Equinor has exercised a one-year priced option for the ultra-deepwater drillship West Saturn. The option adds $114 million to Seadrill’s contract backlog and extends the original contract, which commenced in 2022, through October 2027.

In Malaysia, the West Capella ultra-deepwater drillship secured a contract with an undisclosed operator. The well-based program is expected to commence in Q2 2026 for an estimated duration of 440 days, plus priced options for three additional wells. The total contract value is approximately $157 million.

In Norway, the West Elara jackup secured an accommodation contract with Equinor on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The program is anticipated to commence in Q3 2026 and continue into Q4 2027.

Energy Emerger wins additional work offshore Oman

Rex Oman, through its indirect subsidiary Masirah Oil, has contracted  Northern Offshore’s Energy Emerger jackup to drill three development wells in Block 50 of Oman’s offshore Yumna Field. The multi-well program was set to begin in March 2026.

In separate news, through another indirect subsidiary Lime Petroleum, Rex announced a discovery in the Knockando Fensfjord prospect in Norway’s Brage Field. The discovery well was drilled from the Brage installation, and the discovery was made in connection with drilling of the Talisker development well, which started production on 11 January. Preliminary estimates indicate additional resources for Brage of between 0.5 million and 1.5 million standard cubic meters of recoverable oil equivalent.