Drillship to move from US Gulf for campaign in the Bulgarian Black Sea

OMV Petrom and NewMed Energy have signed a deal to charter a Noble drillship for a two-well campaign on the Han-Asparuh Block in the Black Sea offshore Bulgaria.

Noble Globetrotter I, currently in the US Gulf, will undertake the four-month campaign, which will begin in Q4 2025 and is valued at an estimated US$80M.

Integrated drilling services will be provided by Halliburton and well testing services by SLB.

OMV Petrom reported the total drilling budget as about €170M (US$200M).

Han Asparuh is an exploration block located in the western Black Sea in Bulgaria, south of the Neptun Deep block in Romania and has an area of 13,712 km² with water depths slightly below 2,000 m.

A sixth-generation drillship, Noble Globetrotter I was in the US Gulf as of 23 July, according to AIS data. It was fixed under a firm January to May 2025 contract with an undisclosed operator, who also holds five priced options, according to the latest Noble fleet status report.