Offshore drilling contractor, Noble Corporation plc, said it has been awarded a significant additional backlog commitment from ExxonMobil Guyana under its Commercial Enabling Agreement (CEA).
The contract duration was extended for four drillships operating under the CEA, from Q4 2025 to Q2 2027. The drillships include the Noble Tom Madden, Noble Sam Croft, Noble Don Taylor, and Noble Bob Douglas.
Robert W. Eifler, President and CEO of Noble Corporation, expressed his excitement about the new contract extension. He stated, “Our first quarter results reflect a strong start to the year from an operational, financial, and commercial perspective. The steady tightening of offshore drilling fundamentals is affording attractive opportunities to place our fleet into improving contracts. We are particularly excited to be awarded a significant additional backlog commitment from ExxonMobil Guyana under the CEA.”
The dayrates applicable under the CEA framework are repriced according to market-based dayrates on March 1 and September 1 each year, Noble said, ensuring that the rates remain competitive and reflect market conditions.
ExxonMobil Guyana is the operator of the Stabroek Block, where it has made more than 30 commercial petroleum discoveries. The bulk of Noble’s revenues from Guyana come from ExxonMobil’s Stabroek Block operations, and sporadic exploration elsewhere in the basin. In 2022, Noble’s Guyana operations generated US$469 million, accounting for a third of its total revenues for the year, which amounted to US$1.4 billion.
Noble completed a business combination with Maersk Drilling last year, cementing itself as a leading offshore drilling contractor for the oil and gas industry. The company said the merger created one of the youngest and highest specification fleets of global scale in the industry.
