Noble Energy Signs 3-Year Contract for the Atwood Advantage, Bound for the Eastern Med

Image: Atwood

Noble Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NBL) announced today that it has signed a 3-year contract, at a day rate of $584,000, for the Atwood Advantage, a DNV-classed, Marshall Islands-flagged, deep water drillship currently under construction at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.

Following its anticipated delivery in the fourth quarter of 2013, it will then transit to a deep water field in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The rig will come equipped with two GE/Hydril 15k psi, dual annular, 7-ram BOP stacks with upgraded capabilities for shearing and subsea intervention. The rig will be capable of drilling in water up to 12,000 feet deep, with a 40,000 foot drill depth ratings. Also, the rigs are fitted with three (3) X 100 MT Knuckle Boom Cranes and one (1) X 165 MT Heave Compensated Knuckle Boom Crane with 10,000 feet of wire for subsea tree handling over the side.

Sources close to the matter have expressed to gCaptain that the security situation in the Eastern Mediterranean may become a unique and complicated factor to any deep water exploration campaigns over the next year.

“Things are ramping up in Israel like I’ve never seen before. I’ll be moving my family out of here as soon as possible,” a security contractor in the area commented.

A drilling manager I spoke to yesterday flatly stated, “There’s no way I’d go there right now.”

Yet, crews are still preparing to pack their bags for what may be an interesting few years.