BP books Noble semisub for UK drilling campaign

Offshore drilling giant Noble Corporation has been awarded a three‑well drilling contract with supermajor BP for one of its semisubmersibles.

BP awarded a deal to the 2016-built Noble GreatWhite offshore UK. The contract has an estimated duration of 150 to 210 days at a dayrate of $320,000 per day, plus a $5m mobilisation fee. The maximum contract length is worth around $72.2m.

The work is expected to commence in the second quarter of 2027 and will happen directly preceding the rig’s upcoming three-year, $473m contract with Aker BP in Norway.

The rig was the subject of another news story. Namely, Noble, future clients BP and Aker BP, came together and renamed the rig to the Noble Claus Bachmann, after Noble’s VP of operations in Europe.

“This contract represents the expansion of our scope with a key client ahead of operations in Norway with Aker BP. We are equally proud to honour Claus Bachmann’s enduring impact on Noble by renaming the Noble GreatWhite to the Noble Claus Bachmann before operations commence,” said Blake Denton, Noble’s SVP of marketing and contracts.