Decision will keep the Noble Discoverer employed in the South American nation until August 2026
Noble Corporation has secured a contract extension with Brazilian state-controlled oil company Petrobras for a drilling rig operating offshore Colombia.
Petrobras has so far unlocked in place volumes of more than 6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas with the drilling of the Sirius-1 and Sirius-2 wells in Block GUA-OFF-0 in the Guajira Offshore basin in the Colombian Caribbean Sea.
In a brief post on LinkedIn, Noble informed that Petrobras has exercised an option to keep the semi-submersible drilling rig Noble Discoverer for an additional 390 days in Colombia.
The move extends the contract from July 2025 to August 2026. Financial terms were not disclosed. Noble said Petrobras also has an unpriced option for an additional extension of the Noble Discoverer into the third quarter of 2027.
Petrobras intends to drill at least two more wells in the block this year, including the Buena Sorte-1 wildcat, but the contract extension suggests the oil giant will carry out extra drilling in Colombia.
A drillstem test conducted earlier this year in the Sirius-2 probe at 804 metres of water assessed about 100 metres of reservoir interval, and according to Petrobras demonstrated “good productivity.”
Petrobras already has a plan to begin output from Sirius by the end of the decade via a subsea-to-shore solution through the installation of manifolds in the seabed and with production lines connected to shore.
Petrobras operates the Sirius development with a 44.44% stake and is partnered by Colombia’s Ecopetrol with the remaining 55.56% interest.
