Noble Corp. to Lease New Ultra-Deepwater Drillship to Anadarko

Noble Corp. (NE) signed a three-year contract to put its new ultra-deepwater drillship to work for Andarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) after the vessel is completed in the fourth quarter of 2013.

The drillship may earn as much as $618,000 a day, including a fee for moving the rig to its drilling location, Geneva-based Noble said in a statement after the market closed today. The Noble Bob Douglas rig, which will be able to operate in water as deep as 10,000 feet (3,045 meters), is expected to work primarily in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, the company said.

It will have two blowout-prevention systems and is expected to generate $677 million during the three-year contract, according to the statement. The rate is “very good” for a three-year contract, Brian Uhlmer, an analyst at Global Hunter Securities LLC in Houston, who rates the shares a buy and owns none, said in a telephone interview.

Noble’s shares rose 0.2 percent to $33.32 in New York.

To contact the reporter on this story: David Wethe in Houston at dwethe@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tina Davis at tinadavis@bloomberg.net