Offshore drilling contractor Noble Corporation has tucked a new multi-well assignment under its belt for one of its drillships. As a result, the rig will carry out drilling operations at a field offshore Philippines, once it wraps up its work with Shell in Malaysia.
Thanks to the new contract with Prime Energy (Prime Energy Resources Development B.V.), a subsidiary of Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc., the Noble Viking drillship will drill three wells, with an additional one-well option, at the Malampaya-Camago field off the coast of the Philippines, Asia.
Blake Denton , Noble’s SVP of Marketing and Contracts, commented: “Noble is pleased to join together with Prime Energy in this important drilling campaign which will ultimately contribute to improved energy security for the Philippines.”
Prime Energy is the operator of the Malampaya deepwater gas-to-power project, which is said to be one of the largest and most significant industrial endeavors in Philippine history. While the value of the rig contract’s firm duration is $69.9 million, the option period will bring $10.98 million, excluding additional fees for MPD services, mobilization, and demobilization fees.
This drillship deal, which is estimated to begin in 2Q 2025, will start in direct continuation of the drillship’s current contract in Malaysia with Sarawak Shell Berhad and Sabah Shell Petroleum Co (SSB/SSPC), subsidiaries of the UK-headquartered Shell.
The 2013-built Noble Viking drillship can accommodate 230 people. With a maximum drilling depth of 40,000 ft, the rig can work in water depths of 12,000 ft. After its 3Q 2023 earnings were released, Noble got hold of new contracts for its rig fleet with a total value of around $530 million, including mobilization payments.
The offshore drilling giant is set on curbing the carbon footprint of its drilling operations, thus, the firm is using many different tools to achieve its decarbonization goals, such as sustainable diesel , which the rig owner employs in its fuel mix for drilling operations in Dutch waters.
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