Noble Drilling News

Esgian reports on new contracts for Borr Drilling and Shelf Drilling (North Sea) jackups in its Week 15 Rig Analytics Market Roundup. Additionally, Energean has selected a drillship for its upcoming drilling campaign offshore Morocco. South America remains vital to the floating rig market, with ExxonMobil moving ahead on a sixth development on the prolific Stabroek block offshore Guyana and Petrobras reporting a new discovery in Brazil's Potiguar Basin.Report Outline:ContractsBorr Drilling has announced new contract commitments for three of its premium jackup rigs…

Newbuild MarketUnsurprisingly, across the offshore sectors, newbuild orders have been scarce to none. Oversupply is still a major problem for the industry and due to slippage, ordering vessels now would be counterproductive. Why order brand new vessels from a yard and wait several years for these to be delivered, when you can purchase readily available cheap tonnage direct from the yards ready to go?Source: Vessels ValueSale and purchaseIt has been a bumper year for sale and purchase activity within the OSV and OCV sectors…

Mr. John Rynd graduated from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics. He previously served as Chief Executive Officer and President, and as a director of Hercules Offshore from 2008 through 2016. Prior to his time with Hercules, Mr. Rynd spent 11 years with Noble Drilling Services, Inc., where he served in a variety of management roles. Earlier in his career, he served in various roles of increasing levels of responsibility with Chiles Offshore and Rowan Companies. Beyond this, Mr. Rynd served as Chairman of the National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) from 2014-15 and currently holds an Ex-Officio position on the Executive Committee. He serves on the Board of Directors of Fieldwood Holdings LLC, and was on the Board of Directors of Hornbeck Offshore, Inc.

120 miles out at sea, 6,000-horsepower devices lift drilling equipment weighing up to 3 million pounds out of holes lying 10,000 feet beneath the water. Keeping such sea monsters in good working order, often for years at a time, is no mean feat. Oil companies spend between $300,000 and $800,000 per day on each vessel drilling offshore. Any failures can result in losses that run into hundreds of thousands of dollars per day.With such high costs and massive market pressures, including volatile oil prices…

At BP's massive Thunder Horse oil platform in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, a dog-sized robot called Maggie uses magnetic tracks to creep along pipes connecting the giant oil facility to the sea floor. Before MaggHD, dubbed "Maggie" by BP, the dangerous inspection job was reserved for highly paid specialist technicians who did their jobs while rappelling along the platform. The energy industry has turned to robots and drones to cut costs and improve safety in some of the world's tougher working environments. Drones inspect gear high up on floating rigs.

Tidewater Inc. (NYSE: TDW) appointed John T. Rynd as the company's new President and CEO and a member of the Board of Directors effective March 5. He replaces Larry T. Rigdon who has served as interim President and Chief Executive Officer since October of 2017. Tom Bates, Chairman of the Board of Directors, said "After completing a comprehensive search, the Board is very pleased to welcome John to the team. He brings with him considerable experience in the offshore drilling services sector and the global oil and gas industry as a whole. Rynd previously served as Chief Executive Officer and President, and as a director of Hercules Offshore from 2008 through 2016.

North American Marine Environment Protection Association (NAMEPA) will hold its Environmental Intelligence in Shipping Conference on “Pathways to Sustainability” on Februar 5, 2016 at SeaRiver Maritime in Spring, Texas. The conference is designed to be a guide for navigating through the myriad of regulations leading to compliance. The maritime industry faces continual regulatory change as it strives to reduce its impact on the marine environment. NAMEPA members, in particular, are committed to “Save our Seas”, but this approach is not without its hurdles. Complex regulations require support to insure understanding and competence and to devise an appropriate strategy for each company. Discussion topics will include Global Projections for Shipping, Regulatory Outlook and Legal Hot Spots.

A record-breaking offshore evacuation system is one of several highlights to be presented at the stand of leading marine and fire safety equipment and service provider VIKING Life-Saving Equipment (VIKING) at OTC 2015 in Houston, Texas. With rig sizes increasing, and evacuation heights exceeding what is possible with enclosed davits and lifeboats, chute-based evacuation solutions have become even more important. To meet these next-level requirements, VIKING has developed a new evacuation chute system, recently tested in the North Sea aboard a Maersk Oil rig but destined for a super-sized Noble Drilling jack-up rig being constructed in Singapore.

Noble Drilling (U.S.) LLC was charged with environmental and maritime crimes for operating the drill ship Noble Discoverer and the drilling unit Kulluk in violation of federal law in Alaska in 2012, the Department of Justice announced. Under the terms of a plea agreement filed in federal court today, Noble will plead guilty to eight felony offenses, pay $12.2 million dollars in fines and community service payments, implement a comprehensive Environmental Compliance Plan, and will be placed on probation for four years. In addition, Noble’s parent corporation, Noble Corporation plc, headquartered in London, England, will implement an Environmental…

A joint industry project on jacking system maintenance and inspection has resulted in a new DNV GL Recommended Practice. This provides guidance to ensure the correct and safe functioning of rack and pinion style jacking systems. The objective is to reduce the risk of gear failure, resulting in lower costs and higher availability throughout the asset’s life time. The consequences of jacking gear failure can be severe and, while the problem is acknowledged by the industry, the correct maintenance and inspection of the jacking systems have proven to be challenging due to the high turnover of people with specific knowledge on board, the evolving nature of the systems and the intermittent use of the systems.

The International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC), North Sea Chapter once again recognized the very best in safety performance at its annual Safety Awards Ceremony held in Aberdeen. Julian Hall of Ensco, North Sea Chapter Chairman, said that it was important to recognize the contributions of individuals, teams and companies to the continuing safety of the industry. “It has not been an easy year, with safety dominated by understandable concerns regarding helicpter reliability.

‘Addressing the Challenges of New Frontiers’ is the topical theme for the International Marine Contractors Association’s (IMCA) Annual Seminar being held in Singapore November 6-7, 2013. The program for the 18th seminar in the annual series is now online at imca-int.com/events/imca-annual-seminar.aspx, and registration is open. Open to members and non-members alike, the seminar features keynote addresses, presentations, workshops and discussions on diving including key developments and advances in diving equipment and operations; marine and subsea operations including DP operations; marine operations, technology and equipment; offshore surveying in remote and harsh environments; ROV and AUV resources and developments in technology.

At the 150th Annual Meeting of the Members of ABS, three industry leaders were elected to the ABS Council. Following the Annual Meeting, the ABS Council met and elected industry leaders to both its Marine and Offshore Technical Committees. Individuals serving on the ABS Council and the Technical Committees help guide the class society in fulfilling its mission of promoting the security of life, property and the natural environment. “Classification represents the concept of self-regulation for the marine and offshore industry,” said ABS President and CEO Christopher J. Wiernicki.

Fairmount Marine’s tug Fairmount Sherpa has towed the semi-submersible drilling rig Noble Paul Romano from the Gulf of Mexico to Egypt. The tow was over a distance of close to 8,000 miles. When contracted by Noble Drilling the Fairmount Sherpa just has completed the installation of FPSO Skarv, offshore Norway. Fairmount Sherpa was mobilized first to Rotterdam for supplies and bunkers before it sailed to Jamaica for a rendez-vous with Noble Paul Romano, which was all ready under tow by tug Svitzer Rotterdam. Offshore Jamaica Fairmount Sherpa hooked up the tow and the convoy set sail for San Juan, Puerto Rico, for bunkers. After the successful crossing of the North Atlantic the convoy safely arrived at Las Palmas, Canary Islands, for a next bunker stop.

During recent weeks, Noreq has been awarded several major contracts with Asian yards. Both Korea and Singapore is growing to be very important markets for Noreq. Some weeks back it was made official that Noreq was awarded the contract for Lifeboat packages for Maersk drillships being built with Samsung Heavy Industries in Korea. This week, even more rig orders have been landed by Noreq. At Jurong Shipyard in Singapore, Noreq has been awarded the lifesaving package for 8 plus 6 optional Jack Up rigs they are building for Seadrill and Noble Drilling.

Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world’s biggest shipbuilder and a leading marine engine manufacturer, today announced it won orders to supply HiMSEN marine engines for drillships for major offshore drilling companies including Noble Drilling Holding LLC., Diamond Offshore Drilling Ltd. The 98 HiMSEN engines, worth USD 150 million, will be installed in 15 drillships including 9 Hyundai Heavy ordered this year from the first half of 2012. “This is a great moment for us as we used to have to import marine engines for our drillships.

Hornbeck Offshore Services, Inc. (NYSE: HOS) announced today that John T. Rynd and Kevin O. Meyers, Ph.D. have been appointed to its Board of Directors (the "Board"), effective June 23, 2011. Mr. Rynd and Dr. Meyers were appointed to fill the vacancies created by a prior resignation and the Board's decision to increase the number of its directors from seven to eight members. In addition, at the Company's Annual Meeting on June 23, 2011, the shareholders reelected Todd M. Hornbeck and Patricia B. Melcher to the Board. John T. Rynd. Since June 2008, Mr. Rynd, 54, has served as the Chief Executive Officer and President, and as a director, of Hercules Offshore, Inc. (NASDAQ: HERO), a publicly traded global provider of offshore contract drilling, liftboat and inland barge services.

The second in Noble Drilling's Globetrotter-class drillship series is being built to ABS class. The Noble Globetrotter II, like the first unit, is a dynamically positioned ultra deepwater drillship featuring the compact Huisman drilling design package. South Korea's STX Heavy Industries will be constructing the hull which will be delivered to the Netherlands where Huisman Equipment will oversee the installation and commissioning of the topside equipment. ABS will once again be reviewing the design and providing full classification of the unit once constructed. When the design was unveiled in 2008, its compactness, due to optimized integration of the drilling equipment into the vessel, drew favorable comments.

According to a report from Asia Pulse Data Source, STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co., a South Korean shipbuilder, has won a $253m order to build a drill ship. Under the deal with Noble Drilling Asset Holding Corp. of the United States, STX Offshore will deliver the vessel used for deep water oil exploration by May 2012. (Asia Pulse Data Source via COMTEX)

Noble Corporation (NYSE:NE) announced that it has closed its acquisition of FDR Holdings Limited (Frontier). The acquisition of Frontier, formerly an independent drilling company, and previously announced agreements with Shell increase Noble's drilling fleet size to 69 from 62 units, with the addition of three dynamically positioned drillships (including two Bully-class joint venture-owned ultra-deepwater rigs under construction), two conventionally moored drillships, including one which is Arctic-class, and a conventionally moored deepwater semisubmersible drilling rig. Additionally, as a result of this acquisition, Noble will own and operate a dynamically positioned floating production, storage, offloading vessel (FPSO).

STX Offshore & Shipbuilding of Korea, one of the world’s largest shipbuilders, has purchased the first OMNIPURE Series 55 marine sanitation system from Severn Trend De Nora for use on a new drill ship. The OMNIPURE Series 55 system complies with MEPC.159(55) effluent standards and performance tests for sewage treatment plants across a variety of offshore and marine installations. The model 5556 system has a treatment capacity of 56 m3/day (14,793 gal/day). Its personnel treatment capacity is 550 people for black water and 225 for black and gray water.

Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd (Keppel O&M) has secured contracts worth over $20.7 million through its overseas subsidiaries for the upgrade and repair of three semisubmersibles (semis). One of these contracts, secured in the Netherlands, is for the inspection and repair of a semi accommodation rig, COSLRIVAL (ex-Port Reval), from China Oilfield Services Limited. K&O plans to upgrade COSLRIVAL’s electrical switchboards and piping systems and overhaul its marine equipment and deck crane reinforcement.

Noble Denton, global offshore engineering and marine services company, announced its move into a new office facility in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The new 850 square meter facility is located at Rua Araujo Porto Alegre, 36, 5th Floor, in downtown Rio. Noble Denton currently employs 28 in Brazil, and the company has aggressive plans for growth. It expects to employ 40 to 45 people by the end of 2009, and to reach 80 full-time employees in the next three years. "Noble Denton has been growing rapidly in Brazil over the past few years, and this office move is a part of our plan to increase our presence in Latin America,” said Andrew Theophanatos, Brazil Country Manager, Noble Denton.