Rigs report: Maersk-Noble merger may require divestment of North Sea rigs

And, as OSJ previously reported, this was followed up by contracts valued at US$43M from TotalEnergies EP Nederland and Petrogas E&P Netherlands for the harsh environment jack-up rig Maersk Resolute employed for plug and abandonment of 31 wells in the Dutch sector of the North Sea.

While its merger with Noble has been unconditionally approved by the competition authorities in Brazil, Norway and the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago, Maersk Drilling is awaiting preclosing merger control clearances in Angola and the UK. While Angola is expected to green light the merger in April, Maersk Drilling and Noble expect they will have to divest certain rigs operating in the North Sea to obtain the conditional antitrust clearance in the phase 1 decision from the UK Competition and Markets Authority. These rigs could include Noble Hans Deul, Noble Sam Hartley, Noble Sam Turner, Noble Houston Colbert, and a CJ-70 design drilling rig which, at this point, Maersk Drilling and Noble believe will be Maersk Innovator or Noble Lloyd Noble.

The news of possible divestment of rigs in the North Sea comes at a time when drilling contracting activity in the region is trending upward. During week 15, 2022, jack-up rig contracting in the North Sea jumped three units week-on-week, rising to 29 — matching the highest level for the year, according to Westwood Global Energy’s RigLogix. The positivity in the North Sea was enough to propel the global offshore jack-up rig activity into positive territory for the week.

And, despite both southeast Asia and the Middle East recording one unit drops week-on-week, Borr Drilling secured contracts for five of its jack-ups in the regions. One contract was with PTTEP which will keep the rig Mist busy in southeast Asia into Q4 2022, while another long-term award from a Middle East developer will keep two Borr Drilling jack-ups working for more than three years.

Global floater activity was elevated, too, during the week, with contracts secured for 117 semi-submersibles and drillships. Activity was highlighted by Saipem, which secured a deepwater contract with Eni for drilling operations in West Africa for the ultra-deepwater drillship Saipem 12000. The drillship has been secured for six months, and options could extend its campaign to 10 months.

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