Noble Corporation Wins $560 Million in New Drilling Contracts, Lifts Backlog to $6.7 Billion

Offshore driller Noble Corporation has secured approximately $560 million in new drilling contracts since its July fleet status update, the company said alongside third-quarter 2026 results released October 26. The awards span six rigs working for operators including TotalEnergies, ConocoPhillips, Apache, Tullow Oil, Occidental and Poland’s ORLEN, across projects in Nigeria, Ghana, Norway, Uruguay and Peru.

Where the new work is

The largest disclosed award covers the drillship Noble BlackRhino, booked by TotalEnergies for a four-well campaign offshore Nigeria starting in the fourth quarter of 2026, lasting roughly 150 days, with six priced option wells attached. The semisubmersible Noble Faye Kozack picked up a five-well, roughly 250-day contract with Tullow Oil offshore Ghana starting in mid-2027, also with five option wells.

In Norway, the semisubmersible Noble Interceptor will drill a single well for DNO starting in the third quarter of 2027, a 50-90 day job expected to be followed directly by a 670-day plug-and-abandonment campaign for ConocoPhillips at the mature Ekofisk field. A separate Noble Intrepid contract with Poland’s ORLEN covers a 40-60 day well, also in Norway, starting the same quarter. In Uruguay, the drillship Noble BlackHawk will drill one well for Apache starting in the fourth quarter of 2027, a roughly 50-day job valued at about $25 million, excluding mobilization and demobilization fees — the only individual contract value Noble disclosed separately.

The drillship Noble Globetrotter I will drill two wells for Occidental offshore Peru starting in the second quarter of 2027 at a $400,000 daily rate plus a mobilization fee, before moving into a three-year light well intervention capacity reservation agreement with TotalEnergies in West Africa, with a first call-off expected offshore Angola in the third or fourth quarter of 2027.

Backlog eases even as new work comes in

Despite the new awards, Noble’s total backlog stood at $6.7 billion as of October 26, 2026, excluding mobilization and demobilization revenue — down from $7.5 billion as of April 27, 2026, as existing contracts were worked off faster than new ones were signed. Fleet utilization also softened in the quarter: Noble’s 23 marketed floating rigs were 66% contracted in the third quarter, while its five marketed ultra-harsh jackup rigs ran at 86%.

Wider quarter: a loss despite higher activity

Noble reported third-quarter 2026 revenue of $729 million, including $684 million in contract drilling services revenue, against a net loss of $117 million, or $0.73 per diluted share — wider than the $37 million loss posted in the second quarter. Adjusted EBITDA came to $201 million, down 5% sequentially. The company narrowed its full-year 2026 guidance to revenue of $2.85-2.9 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $850-900 million, while raising its capital expenditure guidance to $680-705 million, largely reflecting higher customer-reimbursable spending. Noble’s board declared a $0.50-per-share dividend for the fourth quarter, payable December 17, 2026.

Chief executive Robert W. Eifler pointed to “the successful resumption of operations for both of our rigs in Brazil” during the quarter and said the roughly $560 million in new awards support his outlook for “a meaningful inflection in fleet utilization and cash flow starting” in the second half of 2027, when several of the newly booked contracts are due to begin.

Part of a broader offshore drilling rebound

Noble’s contract wins land alongside similar activity at rival driller Transocean, which added $1.1 billion to its own backlog through new Shell and finalized Equinor deals earlier in October, pointing to a broader pickup in deepwater and harsh-environment drilling demand even as day rates and utilization remain mixed across operators. TotalEnergies, the client behind both the Nigeria and the planned West Africa capacity-reservation work for Noble, has been expanding its upstream drilling commitments across the region this year.

Noble’s statement does not disclose the dollar value of the Nigeria, Ghana, Peru or Norway contracts individually, nor the day rates attached to them beyond the Uruguay and Peru jobs.

Sources

• Noble Corporation plc, Form 8-K, third-quarter 2026 earnings press release, US Securities and Exchange Commission filing, October 26, 2026 — contract awards, backlog, financial results and guidance.
• Offshore Engineer (oedigital.com), “Noble Secures $560M in Rig Deals, Backlog Hits $6.7B,” October 2026 — independent confirmation of contract scope and rig assignments.

Illustrative image. Photo: Richard Bartz, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons — source