Noble buys another newbuild jack-up rig in Indonesia

Offshore driller Noble Corporation has reportedly bought another Gusto-designed newbuild jack-up rig from PaxOcean’s Graha yard in Batam, Indonesia.

According to VesselsValue, this week the offshore driller has acquired the Jingxuan newbuild jack-up rig which the Indonesian yard originally built for China-based Petrolor Oilfield Services.

VesselsValue’s estimated market value of the rig is US$108.7 million.

The agreement, if proven true, follows a similar one from September 2018 when Noble from the same yard bought the Jinghang jack-up rig, also previously ordered, and abandoned, by China’s Petrolor. Noble at the time said the price was US$93.75 million, which was below the market value estimates.

The first rig, renamed to Noble Johnny Whitstine, immediately secured a long-term contract with an undisclosed client in the Middle East. The contract is expected to start in the first quarter of 2019.

The rig is currently in a shipyard in Singapore.

Both rigs are of the GustoMSC CJ46-100XD designed to operate in water depths of up to 375 feet and drill to 30,000 feet deep.

Source: Offshore Energy Today