Noble drillship booked for more wells by Gulf of Mexico oil & gas operator

Houston-based oil and gas company Murphy Oil has widened the drilling scope of work Noble Corporation, an offshore drilling contractor, is in charge of carrying out in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico with one of its drillships.

Noble Stanley Lafosse drillship; Source: Noble

While highlighting that Murphy Oil has exercised its option for the Noble Stanley Lafosse drillship to spud five additional wells in the Gulf of Mexico, Noble explains that the extension, anticipated to span one year with an estimated contract value of $177 million, comes with an additional unpriced option for a further five wells.

Blake Denton, Noble’s SVP of Marketing and Contracts, commented: “The relationship with Murphy is incredibly valuable to Noble and we appreciate the trust they have placed in us by exercising an option for these important wells.”

The Noble Stanley Lafosse drillship has been working for Murphy in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico for some time. The rig was contracted under a day rate of $300,000 until July 2023, when it started its current drilling program with Murphy.

The 2014-built Noble Stanley Lafosse drillship was constructed at Samsung Heavy Industries and comes with a Samsung 12000 double-hull design. This drillship can operate in water depths of up to 12,000 ft. The rig’s maximum drilling depth is 40,000 ft and it can accommodate 200 people.

Noble has been a busy bee this year, securing multiple new jobs, including a recent one with Harbour, which came after the offshore drilling player won a contract in Spain for plug and abandonment (P&A) activities, following multimillion-dollar assignments in Q1 2024 for its rig fleet.