Offshore driller Noble Corporation has been awarded a double contract extension for one of its drilling rigs in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.
Namely, Noble said on Thursday in its fleet status report that the 1981-built semi-submersible drilling rig Noble Paul Romano secured two extensions with the oil company Hess in the Gulf of Mexico; first until October on the same dayrate as before, then till December on a reduced dayrate..
Prior to the latest extension, the rig had been under contract with Hess from mid-September 2016 until early August 2017 on a $128,500 dayrate.
As said before, the Noble Paul Romano will remain with Hess on the same dayrate until early October. After this, the contract which will then run until late December on a reduced dayrate of $115,000.
This is not the first dayrate cut for the rig working for Hess. In September last year, Hess extended the the rig contract, however it slashed the dayrate from $304,000 to $128,500. The deal was supposed to be for just one well and last from mid-September to mid-December of last year, but the rig is still under contract with the oil company.
The Noble Paul Romano was built by Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp. in 1981 but was upgraded in 2013. It can work in water depths of up to 6,000 ft, drill up to 25,000 ft, and accommodate 149 people.
According to latest AIS data, the rig is currently located offshore the U.S. in the Gulf of Mexico.
Offshore Energy Today Staff