Fossil Energy – Drilling
Offshore drilling contractor Noble has recently secured two new contracts for its 350-ft jack up Noble Resolve, which will see the unit move to two different countries outside of the North Sea region, first in Q4 2024 and then in Q2 2025.
The Noble Resolve is currently operating in Denmark, with operations set to be completed soon. After that, it will undergo a special periodic survey (SPS) in the country. In direct continuation of the survey, the rig will move to Poland’s Baltic Sea to undertake a one-well campaign for CEPetro under a contract secured earlier in July. The contract is set to begin in October 2024 for 45 days at a day rate of $140,000.
In the second quarter of 2025, it is scheduled to move to Spain to work on a 13-well P&A campaign for approximately 170 days, which will keep it busy into late 2025. This contract was announced in May 2024.
The upcoming move of the Noble Resolve will make Noble the second-largest owner of jack up units in the North Sea region, just after Valaris, which has 10 units. While all Valaris units are currently in the UK sector, Noble’s fleet is scattered across the North Sea region, with rigs in the UK, Denmark, Norway, and the Netherlands.
Both of these new contracts are Noble’s first in their respective countries. As a result, Noble’s rig count in the North Sea region will decrease from 10 to 9 units.
Furthermore, the upcoming departure of the Noble Resolve will reduce the North Sea jack up count to 33 units, following the departure of two other units earlier this year: Shelf Drilling Perseverance to Vietnam in January and Valaris 247 to Australia in April.
Both of these had previously been operating in the UK sector, which has been experiencing a decrease in rig count amid slow demand.
