Noble’s 2013-built rig picks up drilling gig offshore Suriname

U.S. offshore drilling contractor Noble Corporation has disclosed a new drilling assignment off the coast of Suriname for one of its jack-up rigs that reportedly wrapped up its assignment with France’s TotalEnergies in Argentina last month.

The Noble Regina Allen rig’s new one-well contract has been secured with an undisclosed operator offshore Suriname. The assignment is expected to span approximately 65 days, beginning in the fourth quarter of 2025. This deal will bring Noble a total value estimated at $17.7 million, including mobilization and demobilization fees.

Following a mechanical failure with the jacking system on one of its legs, the rig was demobilized to a port in Trinidad in 2022. The jack-up’s multi-well contract was terminated because of extended downtime, thus, it was off day rates since mid-December 2022. The rig underwent repair work in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

The Noble Regina Allen jack-up rig was hired in September 2023 by TotalEnergies for a three-well contract in Argentina. The unit’s job was estimated to take 220 days, plus four one-well options. The jack-up arrived in the country last year to continue drilling gas wells at the Fénix platform.

TotalEnergies started production from its Fenix field in southern Argentina last year, but the contract for Noble’s jack-up was scheduled to begin in mid-2024 and end in February 2025. The deal came with an operating day rate of $150,000, excluding additional fees for mobilization and demobilization.

The 2013-built Noble Regina Allen jack-up rig is of Friede & Goldman JU3000N design. Constructed at Jurong Shipyard, the unit can accommodate 150 people. With a drilling depth capability of 35,000 feet (10.67 kilometers), this rig can operate in water depths of up to 400 feet (around 122 meters).

Bearing in mind the current offshore drilling market fundamentals, Noble believes a step-up in drilling demand for the floater fleet is on the cards from late 2025 and 2026, prompting further rig reactivations.

Assignments for four floaters in Ghana, Suriname, the Americas, the U.S. Gulf, and Australia, set the stage for the rig owner to secure a backlog of $5.8 billion by mid-February 2025.