Noble Corporation Reaches Agreement on Noble Clyde Boudreaux

ZUG, Switzerland, June 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Noble Corporation (NYSE: NE) today announced that it has reached an agreement with one of its customers regarding the situation created by the restrictions imposed on deepwater drilling in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico by the U.S. Department of the Interior.  This compromise with Noble Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NBL) defines an interim agreement on the ultra-deepwater semisubmersible drilling unit Noble Clyde Boudreaux during the period of restricted activity.

The parties have entered into a compromise agreement to replace the original drilling contract, pursuant to which the Noble Clyde Boudreaux will be placed on standby for the period from June 15, 2010 through December 12, 2010.  During the standby period, which can be extended by mutual agreement of the companies, the unit will receive a daily fee of $145,000 per day.  Furthermore, the companies have agreed to negotiate in good faith to enter into a new drilling contract for the unit following the standby period at a dayrate of $397,500.  The parties contemplate that the term of this new contract would be equal to the remainder of the original contract term, previously expected to end in November 2011, exclusive of the standby period.

Noble also provided an update to the status of its remaining deepwater offshore drilling units operating in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.  The Noble Paul Romano, which completed its contractual commitment, and the Noble Amos Runner, for which the Company received a notice of force majeure termination from Anadarko Petroleum, which the Company is disputing, are currently idle.  To date, with the exception of the notice received from Anadarko, the Company has not received any notifications from customers who have attempted to exercise their rights under force majeure clauses.

About Noble

Noble is a leading offshore drilling contractor for the oil and gas industry. Noble performs, through its subsidiaries, contract drilling services with a fleet of 62 offshore drilling units (including two rigs currently under construction) located worldwide, including in the Middle East, India, the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, Mexico, the Mediterranean, the North Sea, Brazil, and West Africa. Noble's shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "NE". Additional information on Noble Corporation is available via the worldwide web at http://www.noblecorp.com.

Statements regarding revenue, rig demand, fleet performance, contract commitments, new contracts, dayrates, contract extensions or renewals, contract backlog, customer base, future performance, market outlook, interpretation of contract clauses, as well as any other statements that are not historical facts in this release, are forward-looking statements that involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. These include but are not limited to our ability to successfully negotiate new contracts with our customers, governmental actions, operating hazards and delays, risks associated with operations outside of the U.S., actions by customers and other third parties, factors affecting the level of activity in the oil and gas industry, supply and demand of drilling rigs, factors affecting the duration of contracts, the actual amount of downtime, factors that reduce applicable dayrates, violations of anti-corruption laws, hurricanes and other weather conditions, the future price of oil and gas and other factors detailed in the Company's most recent Form 10-K, Form 10-Q's and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those indicated.

SOURCE Noble Corporation