Noble

What Noble does

Noble Corporation plc (NYSE: NE) is a global offshore drilling contractor founded in 1921 and headquartered in London (with principal operating presence in Houston) that provides contract drilling services to the oil and gas industry using a fleet of 24 marketed ultra-deepwater floaters (drillships and semi-submersibles, including the industry's largest suite of seventh-generation dual-BOP drillships acquired via the 2024 Diamond Offshore merger) plus five ultra-harsh environment jackups.

The company's core service is dayrate-based contract drilling, with Tier-1 drillships commanding rates in the low-to-mid $400,000s per day and sixth-generation floaters in the low $300,000s to low $400,000s per day; contracts range from single-well programs to multi-year extensions (e.g., $339M Petrobras extension through December 2030, $473M three-year Aker BP contract). Noble's technology stack includes integrated automation partnerships (Halliburton LOGIX orchestration, Sekal DrillTronics, ExxonMobil collaboration on industry-first fully automated well placement offshore Guyana), AI-driven DrillDocs CleanSight shaker surveillance for borehole instability detection, and a global Weatherford MPD agreement standardizing managed pressure drilling across the fleet.

Noble serves super-major international oil companies (ExxonMobil, bp, Shell, TotalEnergies, Chevron), national oil companies (Petrobras, Petronas), and independent operators (Woodside, Aker BP, Beacon Offshore, Planet One) through direct enterprise sales organized into Western and Eastern Hemisphere divisions with regional marketing leads across North America, South America, Europe (including Norway and the North Sea), Africa/Middle East, and Asia Pacific. The business has rationalized toward deepwater and ultra-harsh environment segments via the divestiture of six jackup rigs to Borr Drilling and Ocean Oilfield Drilling in late 2025/early 2026, with FY2025 revenue of $3.29 billion, Q1 2026 revenue of $785.7 million, $7.5 billion contracted backlog, and approximately $1.3 billion in cumulative shareholder returns since Q4 2022.

Name

Noble

Legal name

Noble Corporation plc

Website

https://noblecorp.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

1921

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Noble Corporation plc (NYSE: NE) is a global offshore drilling contractor providing ultra-deepwater and ultra-harsh environment drilling services to super-majors, national oil companies, and independents via a marketed fleet of 24 floaters and five jackups under long-term dayrate contracts.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Offshore Drilling Services

NAICS

Drilling Oil and Gas Wells (213111), Support Activities for Mining (21311)

SIC

Drilling Oil & Gas Wells (1381)

akta.pro primary industry

Well Construction & Completion Services (Cementing, Casing, Tubular Running) (EUALABAC)

Keywords

• Offshore drilling services
• Contract drilling
• Ultra-deepwater drilling
• Jackup rig operations
• Drillship fleet services

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices15 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Contract Drilling Services: Noble generates revenue primarily through dayrate-based contracts for its offshore drilling fleet. Dayrates range from approximately $300,000 to $450,000+ per day depending on rig type (Tier-1 drillships command higher rates), contract duration, and market conditions. Revenue is recognized as services are rendered over the contract period.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Noble Corporation is a leading global offshore drilling contractor providing contract drilling services for the oil and gas industry. The company owns and operates a modern, versatile fleet of offshore drilling units including ultra-deepwater floaters (drillships and semi-submersibles), high-specification jackups, and ultra-harsh environment jackups. Revenue is generated primarily through dayrate-based contracts ranging from approximately $300,000 to over $450,000 per day depending on rig type and specifications.

Product overview

Noble Corporation is an offshore drilling contractor providing a comprehensive fleet of offshore drilling units focused largely on ultra-deepwater and high specification jackup drilling opportunities. The company operates one of the most modern, versatile, and technically advanced fleets in the offshore drilling industry, performing contract drilling services for the oil and gas industry worldwide. Noble's fleet includes ultra-deepwater floaters (drillships and semisubmersibles), high-specification jackups, and ultra-harsh environment jackups, supported by technology partnerships for automated drilling, AI-driven monitoring, and managed pressure drilling systems.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• First Choice Offshore: Company strategic positioning tagline representing Noble's vision to be the first choice offshore drilling contractor for employees, customers and investors.

Products and services

• Ultra-Deepwater Floaters
• Ultra-Harsh Environment Jackups
• High-Specification Jackup Drilling
• Contract Drilling Services

Quantifiable outcome

• 68% floater utilization in Q1 2026 with fleet of 24 marketed floaters
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability5 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Halliburton (Jeff Miller appointment)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 21 May 2026Appointment of Halliburton CEO Jeff Miller to Noble's Board of Directors, bringing deepwater operational expertise, multi-cycle industry experience, and international contract strategy insight. Miller has served at Halliburton since 1997 in various roles including COO and Regional Vice President of Gulf of Mexico.
• Weatherford InternationalcoreTechnology or Integration · 5 May 2026Multiple managed pressure drilling (MPD) contracts including deployment of two deepwater MPD systems for Noble's offshore Guyana operations before year-end, upgrade of third-party MPD system for Nigeria operations, and global aftermarket agreement covering MPD systems across Noble's entire fleet for standardized lifecycle support.
• HalliburtoncoreTechnology or Integration · 16 March 2026Collaboration on automated drilling technology achieving the industry's first fully automated geological well placement offshore Guyana. Noble participated in an integrated closed-loop system combining Halliburton's LOGIX orchestration and Sekal's DrillTronics technology, resulting in 15% improvement in reservoir section completion time and 33% reduction in tripping operations.
• ExxonMobilcoreTechnology or Integration · 16 March 2026Collaboration on first fully automated geological well placement offshore Guyana using integrated closed-loop system. Noble provided drilling unit and operational expertise as part of the Wells Alliance Guyana team.
• Ocean Oilfield DrillingminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 December 2025Sale of jack-up drilling rig Noble Resolve for $64 million in cash, with transaction expected to close upon completion of the rig's current contract in Q2 2026.
• Borr Drilling LimitedcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 December 2025Sale of five premium jack-up rigs (three Friede & Goldman JU-3000N and two Gusto MSC CJ50) for $360 million, with two rigs chartered back to Noble for 12 months to complete existing contracts. Transaction completed January 2026.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Valaris Limited: Valaris is a leading offshore drilling contractor with a diversified fleet of floaters and jackups. Directly competes with Noble in deepwater and ultra-deepwater segments while maintaining a meaningful jackup business Noble divested.
• Transocean: Transocean is the largest pure-play offshore drilling contractor globally, operating one of the newest ultra-deepwater fleets including drillships and harsh-environment semi-submersibles. Direct competitor to Noble in Tier-1 floater tenders with similar super-major customers.
• Seadrill Limited: Seadrill operates a modern fleet of drillships and semi-submersibles focused on deepwater and harsh-environment markets. Directly comparable to Noble in Tier-1 floater dayrate markets following Seadrill's 2022 emergence and fleet renewal.
• Stena Drilling: Stena Drilling operates a fleet of harsh-environment semi-submersibles including the Stena DrillMAX and Stena Spey-class units, with strong presence in the North Sea. Directly competes with Noble in Norwegian and UK harsh-environment floater tenders.

Emerging players

• Borr Drilling: Borr Drilling is a pure-play jackup rig contractor that acquired five premium jackups from Noble for $360M in January 2026. While primarily a jackup operator rather than deepwater peer, Borr now indirectly competes for Noble's residual harsh-environment jackup work and shares the same super-major customer base.

Regional players

• SBM Offshore: SBM Offshore provides floating production solutions (FPSOs) and related offshore services rather than drilling, but operates in the same deepwater customer ecosystem and competes for offshore capex with Noble's drilling customers in Brazil, West Africa, and Guyana basins.
• Odfjell Drilling: Odfjell Drilling operates harsh-environment semi-submersibles and modern jackups primarily in the North Sea. Directly competes with Noble's harsh-environment fleet for Norwegian Continental Shelf and UK North Sea contracts, including the recent Aker BP awards.

Broad incumbents

• TechnipFMC: TechnipFMC is a broad subsea engineering and equipment provider serving the same deepwater E&P customers as Noble. While not a drilling contractor, it competes for integrated subsea project budgets and provides complementary technology to Noble's drilling operations.
• Saipem: Saipem is an Italian-based integrated engineering and drilling services company offering offshore drilling rigs (including the Drilling Saipem 12000 and Scarabeo series) alongside broader EPCI services. Competes with Noble in select deepwater tenders globally, particularly in Mediterranean and West Africa markets.

Others

• Diamond Offshore (legacy): Diamond Offshore Drilling was acquired by Noble in September 2024, merging the seventh-generation drillship fleet into Noble's marketed assets. The legacy Diamond entity is now part of Noble, but historical Diamond contracts and rigs form the basis for Noble's current dual-BOP drillship positioning.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/NobleCorp
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/noble-drilling
• Xx.com/noblecorpplc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Subsidiaries16 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A3 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Noble