Analyzing Noble’s June Fleet Status Report

On June 7, Noble (NE) released its June fleet status report. A fleet status report includes contract information, drilling status, and planned out-of-service time for every rig. In this part, we’ll discuss the report in more detail.

Since the offshore drilling downturn started, most of the offshore drilling companies have stopped publishing a monthly fleet status report. Noble provides a fleet status report on a monthly basis, while its peers—Transocean (RIG), Diamond Offshore (DO), and Ensco (DO)—publish quarterly fleet status reports.

Noble doesn’t have any new contracts, but the report had many other fleet developments. Noble sold its jack-up rig—Noble David Tinsley. The rig was built in 1981 and was 37 years old.

Noble’s contract with Hess on its rig Noble Paul Romona ended in mid-May. The company has warm stacked this rig. Noble has more contracts that will end this year. The jack-up rig Noble Sam Turner will end its contract in late August. Currently, the rig is working with Total in Denmark. Noble Hans Deul, working with Spirit Energy in the United Kingdom, will end its contract in mid-December. Two more contracts on Noble’s jack-up rigs with Saudi Aramco will end in 2018. Another jack-up rig contracted with ConocoPhillips will end this year. Noble will have to find work for these rigs to keep its backlog from shrinking.

As of March 31, Noble had a backlog of $2.8 billion. Noble’s backlog dropped from $3 billion in the previous quarter. As of March 31, Ensco (ESV) had a total contracted backlog of $2.7 billion—compared to $3.8 billion on December 31, 2017. Transocean’s (RIG) backlog was $12.5 billion in April—down from $12.8 billion in February. As of April 18, Rowan Companies (RDC) had a backlog of $379 million—down from $456 million in February.