ExxonMobil has awarded a new 6-month contract to the drillship Noble Sam Croft for operations offshore Guyana, where the company has so far found more than 8 billion barrels of oil equivalent resources.
“In early August, ExxonMobil awarded the drillship Noble Sam Croft a new 6-month contract to drill offshore Guyana, with operations commencing in the fourth quarter of 2020 after the rig finishes its current program offshore Suriname,” Noble Corporation said on Wednesday.
This new contract was awarded under the previously announced Commercial Enabling Agreement (CEA) established with ExxonMobil for Guyana earlier this year.
Noble said with this award, all four of its high-specification HHI drillships will now be contracted to ExxonMobil in Guyana, “expanding our relationship with a valued client in one of the world’s most exciting deepwater basins and enhancing our footprint in this emerging region.”
The Sam Croft brings the total number of drillships operating at the Stabroek Block to five and joins the Tom Madden and Bob Douglas which are currently drilling development wells just over 100 nautical miles of the country’s coast, as well as the Don Taylor, which is conducting drill operations at the Redtail-1 prospect.
The ultra-deepwater Noble drillships are capable of operating in water depths of up to 12,000 feet and are equipped with advanced drilling systems and redundant subsea control technology and station-keeping systems.
The Stena Carron drillship, also on contract with ExxonMobil, will soon be moving to the Kaieteur Block to spud the Tanager-1 well.
The new Noble contract award comes at a time when the company has filed for bankruptcy as part of a comprehensive plan for the elimination of approximately $3.4 billion in bond debt.
