(Credit: Noble Corporation)
Offshore drilling firm Noble Corporation has informed about two new drilling campaigns secured for its Noble Venturer drillship in Africa, which is currently employed on drilling assignment with Tullow Oil offshore Ghana.
Following the early completion of the Tullow Oil Ghana campaign expected to end in late May 2024, Noble Corporation said it will relocate the Noble Venturer to Equatorial Guinea to drill three wells – including two development wells and one exploration well – for Trident Energy.
The campaign is starting in June 2024 for an estimated 150 days. The new contract dayrate has been revised slightly upwards to replace the legacy Tullow dayrate, Noble Corporation said.
From Equatorial Guinea, the company will move the Noble Venturer to Namibia and drill an exploratory campaign of a minimum of two wells for Rhino Resources, starting in November 2024.
A dayrate of $410,000 (excluding mobilization) will apply for the firm term and option scope, for a total potential duration of 100 to 250 days.
This work was previously slated for and conditionally awarded to the Noble Developer prior to the early completion of the Noble Venturer Tullow campaign.
“We’re very proud of our Noble Venturer crew whose drilling efficiency helped achieve early completion of our campaign with Tullow and service partners, enabling new opportunities to partner with Trident Energy and Rhino Resources.
“We’re also excited to re-enter the Namibian arena after the original Venus discovery for TotalEnergies by the Noble Voyager a couple of years ago,” said Blake Denton, SVP of Marketing and Contracts.
Built in 2014 at Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) shipyard in South Korea, the Noble Venturer drillship is a seventh-generation Samsung 96-K drillship. It can operate in water depths of 12,000 ft, with its maximum drilling depth of 40,000 ft. This rig is able to accommodate 230 people.
