Deepwater semisubmersible receives operator commitment
Posted: 29 December 2004
Noble Corporation said that the Noble Clyde Boudreaux deepwater semisubmersible has received a commitment for a two-year contract from Shell Exploration & Production Company (Shell) in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico with an estimated commencement date in the third quarter 2006. The Noble Clyde Boudreaux is a moored semisubmersible designed to drill 35,000 feet in water depths up to 10,000 feet with living accommodations for 200 persons. The unit's operational design follows the highly successful Noble EVA-4000(TM) format.
The commitment includes the negotiation and signature of a definitive drilling contract by the parties no later than February 15, 2005, with a primary term of two years and with Shell having an option for the unit upon expiration of the initial two-year term at a mutually agreeable dayrate. The Company estimates the drilling contract value at between $142 million and $153 million, based on the current equipment configuration, depending on the definitive contract's base operating dayrate.
As previously reported by the Company, the unit is located at Signal Shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi, where the Company suspended its upgrade project in mid-2003 pending an operator commitment. Substantially all major steel work on the hull was completed prior to suspension of the project, and long lead time items of equipment have already been delivered or ordered. The Company will immediately recommence work on the upgrade project, with overall completion and commissioning estimated for the third quarter 2006.
Separately, the Company announced that Shell has indicated it desires to extend the contract for the Noble Jim Thompson, a Noble EVA-4000(TM) deepwater semisubmersible, for a period not less than 90 days after conclusion of its current 200-day contract, subject to a dayrate mutually agreeable to the parties. The current contract for the Noble Jim Thompson extends through June 2005.
Posted by Editor Pipeline Magazine
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