Noble Corp (Topco) set out a timeline for its proposed merger with Maersk Drilling that would see the new company listed by 3 October 2022
Noble Corp announced its intention to submit a voluntary public share exchange offer in accordance with Danish takeover rules. In exchange for each Maersk Drilling share of nominally Dkr10 (US$1.38), Noble will offer 1.6137 Topco shares, with a nominal value of US$0.00001 per share.
In addition to the share consideration, Topco will offer each Maersk shareholder who accepts the offer the opportunity to receive a cash consideration in lieu of certain Topco shares, subject to an aggregate cap of US$50M, payable in Danish Krone.
Noble Corp has reported an increase in demand for its offshore rigs. The company’s floater fleet was fully contracted in Q2 2022 – and the rig owner expects the positive momentum to continue. For more on the offer and Noble’s rig activity, scroll down.
Borr Drilling has announced plans to make a public offering of US$250M in common shares on the NYSE. The company intends to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to US$25M in common shares.
The drilling contractor also reported a binding letter of intent (LOI) for the Prospector 5 jack-up from an undisclosed operator in West Africa. Borr expects the LOI to be converted into a contract worth US$69M. Prospector 5 is expected to commence a six-well firm programme in Q4 2022 with a duration of 14 months, plus options.
BW Energy announced the signing of up to US$300M in an international reserve based lending facility which will initially be used to finance the further development of the Dussafu licence offshore Gabon.
The facility has an initial commitment of US$200M which can be expanded up to an additional US$100M. Five international banks provided the secured long-term debt facility for a six-year period.
Equinor has received two consents from Norwegian supervisory body the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway to carry out work on two projects in the Norwegian Sea using the Transocean Encourage and Deepwater Stavanger drilling rigs.
Transocean Encourage will work on the Kristin field in the production licence 134 B, a few km southwest of the Åsgard field. The water depth in the area is 370 m. Odfjell Drilling’s Deepsea Stavanger semi-submersible unit will target the Othello North prospect, located in the production licence 124 at a depth of 290 m.
ADNOC Drilling won a pair of contracts from ADNOC totalling over US$3.4Bn for the hire of eight jack-up offshore rigs. This will support the UAE’s goal of raising crude oil production capacity to 5M barrels per day (b/d) by 2030. The jack-up rigs will be hired along with manpower and equipment to support drilling operations across ADNOC’s offshore fields, which account for about half of the company’s production capacity.
US-based Diamond Offshore Drilling has secured new contracts worth US$610M, increasing the company’s backlog to more than US$1Bn.
Diamond Offshore also announced contract awards for the harsh environment, semi-submersible Ocean GreatWhite rig in the UK North Sea, the semi-submersible Ocean Apex in Australia, and two seventh-generation drillships, Ocean BlackHornet and a Diamond-managed rig in the US Gulf of Mexico.
Ocean GreatWhite was awarded five wells, with an estimated duration of 300 days. Contract commencement is expected Q1 2023. Total contract value of the committed scope is approximately US$80M. The contract includes priced options for up to eight additional wells.
Ocean Apex has been awarded three new contracts for work on the Northwest Shelf of Australia. The first new award commences Q2 2023, with an estimated duration of 75 days. The second award is also for an estimated duration of 75 days, commencing in direct continuation of the previous award. The third award has an estimated duration of 150 days with a commencement in 2024. The combined awards add approximately US$90M of backlog to Ocean Apex.
Diamond Offshore chief executive Bernie Wolford said, “A potential fourth new contract currently under negotiation would fill out the remaining availability in 2023, and combined, keep the rig fully contracted until late 2024.”
Ocean BlackHornet has secured a two-year extension with its current client in the US Gulf of Mexico in direct continuation of the rig’s current term. The two-year extension will keep the rig working until early 2025. Total contract value for the extension is approximately US$290M.
A Diamond-managed rig has been extended by its current client for work in the US Gulf of Mexico for an additional one-year term in direct continuation of the rig’s current term. The contract value for this extension is approximately US$150M.
Among contracts related to the Noble-Maersk merger, Noble Faye Kozack was awarded a one-well contract with LLOG for work in the US Gulf of Mexico at a rate of US$420,000 per day. In Suriname, APA Corp executed its second option for the Noble Gerry de Souza and is expected to novate the rig to TotalEnergies for one well.
Noble Globetrotter I recently concluded a contract with Shell and is scheduled to mobilise to Mexico Q3 2022 to work for CNOOC and Petronas. In Q2, four Noble drillships under the commercial enabling agreement were awarded 7.4 years of incremental term in connection with the sanctioning of the Yellowtail development, offshore Guyana.
In Guyana, Noble Regina Allen commenced operations for Repsol and is scheduled to return to Trinidad and Tobago to drill six firm wells with a different operator.Noble Sam Hartley ispreparing to commence work for Total in the UK North Sea while the Noble Houston Colbert rig will move to the Middle East where it will begin its 3.5-year campaign in Qatar.
PSA has consented to Aker BP’s use of the Maersk Integrator mobile drilling facility for well intervention activities on the Valhall Flanke West field. Valhall is in the southern part of the Norwegian sector in the North Sea at a water depth of 70 m.
The combined company will be named Noble Corporation plc and all the shares will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), admitted to trading and official listing on Nasdaq Copenhagen. Maersk shareholders have until 8 September to accept the offer. If accepted the exchange would be complete by 3 October. Maersk Drilling’s board has unanimously recommended that shareholders accept the offer and observe the timeline.
APMH Invest which holds approximately 42% of Maersk Drilling’s total share capital and voting rights has already accepted the offer. AP Møller-Maersk-linked funds, holding an approximately 12% interest, have expressed their intent to do the same. The merger is still awaiting full approval from the UK antitrust regulator.
Finally, Keppel Corp has announced the termination of contracts over the failure of clients to make final payments and take delivery. These relate to the US$500M jackup TS Jasper ordered in 2014 by TS Offshore Ltd, a semi-submersible Sapura Raiqa ordered in 2015 and a US$85M high-specification liftboat ordered by Crystal Heights Holdings in 2015.
The Singapore rigbuilder said it has already issued a notice of termination for the contracts on 5 August. Keppel will also retain ownership of the TS Jasper and Sapura Raiqa units through an independent related company. Construction on the liftboat is yet to commence.
