Noble Corp said Monday it had signed separate deals to sell five jackup rigs to Borr Drilling Ltd for $360 million and one jackup to Ocean Oilfield Drilling for $64 million.
After the completion of the transactions, expected next year, “Noble will be a pureplay deepwater and ultra-harsh environment jackup operator”, the offshore driller said in an online statement.
Borr will acquire Noble Resilient (built 2009), Noble Resolute (built 2009), Noble Mick O’Brien (built 2013), Noble Regina Allen (built 2013) and Noble Tom Prosser (built 2014).
The purchase price consists of $210 million in cash and $150 million in seller notes. “The $150 million in proposed seller notes to Borr are expected to have a six-year maturity and be secured by a first lien on three jackups (Noble Tom Prosser, Noble Regina Allen and Noble Resilient)”, Noble said.
“Additionally, Noble intends to operate two rigs – Noble Mick O’Brien and Noble Resolute – under a bareboat charter agreement with Borr for one year from signing of the definitive agreement”, it said.
Meanwhile Ocean Oilfield Drilling will buy Noble Resolve, built 2009, after the rig’s ongoing contract ends. Noble Resolve will be freed in the first quarter of 2026, Nobel says on its online fleet inventory. The rig is currently deployed in Spain for an unnamed operator, according to Noble’s latest fleet status report, published October 27. Ocean Oilfield Drilling will pay in cash.
“These transactions are expected to be immediately accretive to our shareholders based on both trailing 2025 and anticipated 2026 EBITDA and free cash flow, while also bolstering our balance sheet and sharpening the focus on our established positions in the deepwater and ultra-harsh jackup segments”, said president and chief executive Robert W. Eifler.
In its quarterly report October 27, Noble said the Noble Globetrotter II drillship, built 2013, was also being sold. During the third quarter it sold the Noble Highlander jackup, the Pacific Meltem drillship and Noble Reacher, previously deployed as an accommodation and intervention unit.
For the July-September quarter, Noble collected $798 million in revenue, down from $849 million for the prior three-month period as lower rig utilization offset lower contract drilling services costs.
“Utilization of the 35 marketed rigs was 65 percent in the third quarter of 2025 compared to 73 percent in the prior quarter”, it said.
Noble logged a net loss of $21 million for Q3, compared to a net profit of $43 million for Q2. It recorded a net loss of $6.23 million from the sale of operating assets and an impairment loss of $60.7 million.
Q3 net result adjusted for nonrecurring items was $30 million, up from $20 million for Q2. Adjusted diluted earnings per share stood at $0.19, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.29 per share. Noble maintained its dividend at $0.5 per share.
Noble recorded $7 billion in backlog, excluding mobilization and demobilization revenue, as of October 27. “Noble’s fleet of 24 marketed floaters was 67 percent contracted during the third quarter compared with 78 percent in the prior quarter”, it said. “Recent backlog additions since last quarter have added over four rig years of total backlog, bringing total rig years of backlog added during 2025 to 22 rig years.
“Recent dayrate fixtures for Tier-1 drillships have remained in the low to mid $400,000s. Utilization of Noble’s eleven marketed jackups was 60 percent in the third quarter versus 63 percent utilization during the prior quarter. Leading edge dayrates for harsh environment jackups in the North Sea have remained stable across a limited number of contract fixtures”.
Noble narrowed its full-year revenue projection from $3.2-3.3 billion to $3.23-3.28 billion.
“Our recent backlog expansion and constructive customer dialogue continue to support the formation of a deepwater utilization recovery by late 2026 or early 2027”, said Eifler.
“While we anticipate a moderately lower earnings and cash flow profile in H1 2026 compared to H2 2025, the foundation for an improving market and corresponding earnings inflection is well underway”.