Noble's Historical Highlights

1921

• The Noble-Olsen Company is founded by Lloyd Noble and Art Olsen.

1927

• Noble drills first well more than one mile deep.

1929

• Noble-Olsen contracts for its first foreign drilling venture in Canada.

1930

• Noble Drilling Company formed.

1933

• Company begins drilling in Gulf Coast, sending its first rig to Conroe Field.

1935

• Noble first uses a submersible type barge in Galveston Bay.

1939

• Noble drills discovery well in Cedar Lake field in West Texas.

1942

• Noble drills several wells in the Northwest Territories of Canada near the Arctic Circle.

1943

• Noble is the first company to drill in a country at war in England's Sherwood Forest.

1945

• Noble is first to drill off the U.S. east coast on Cape Hatteras Island.

1950

• Lloyd Noble dies at age 53.

1953

• Noble is first contractor to drill offshore using electrical power from shore in Bay Marchand.

1955

• Noble builds its first jackup drilling unit.

1985

• Noble Drilling Corporation is spun off from parent company, Noble Affiliates Inc., and begins public trading on the NASDAQ.

1988

• Six offshore rigs and 20 land rigs acquired from Temple Marine Drilling and R.C. Chapman Drilling. Noble also acquired Peter Bawden Drilling Ltd.

1991

• Acquired five jackups and seven submersibles from Transworld Drilling.

1992

• Noble is first North Sea drilling contractor to receive ISO 9001 certification.

1993

• Noble lead contractor in BP Forties field partnering association in the North Sea. Acquired nine jackups of the Western Oceanic fleet from The Western Company of North America. Acquired two submersibles from Portal Rig Corporation.

1994

• Acquired Triton Engineering Services Company. Completed merger of Chiles Offshore Corporation.

1995

• Purchased two jackup rigs, the Noble Lewis Dugger (formerly the Maya) and the Noble Gene Rosser (formerly the Azteca). Start-up of Middle East operations.

1996

• Purchased Neddrill Holding B.V.
• Land Drilling assets sold.
• Four posted barge rigs sold.
• Purchased one semisubmersible rig and four jackup rigs, the Noble Homer Ferrington (formerly the Shelf 4), the Noble Gus Androes (formerly the Odin Explorer), the Noble Chuck Syring (formerly the Dana), the Noble Kenneth Delaney (formerly the Miss Kitty) and the Noble Jimmy Puckett (formerly the Essar Explorer), respectively.

1997

• Sold 12 mat supported jackups
• Noble Bill Jennings reactivated and upgraded with 500' of leg and converted to an Extended Reach Cantilever(ERC™)
• Noble Drilling awarded the U.S. Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service(MMS) 1996 National Offshore Safety Award for Excellence.

1998

• Purchased two semisubmersible drilling units, the Ilion and the Shelf 6.
• The first EVA-4000™ semisubmersible conversion, the Noble Paul Romano, commences operations.
• Noble Leonard Jones reactivated and upgraded with 500' of leg and converted to an Extended Reach Cantilever(ERC™)

1999

• Successful delivery of four Noble EVA™ semisubmersible units, the Noble Paul Wolff, the Noble Jim Thompson, the Noble Amos Runner and the Noble Max Smith.
• The Noble Paul Wolff established a world water depth record offshore Brazil for Petrobras, drilling in 8,816 feet of water.

2000

• The Noble Homer Ferrington is delivered to Mariner Energy.
• Noble formed a joint venture with Lime Rock Partners to purchase the jackup Ocean Scotian, a harsh environment North Sea jackup. Noble owns 50% of the joint venture. The rig was renamed the Noble Julie Robertson.
• Noble formed a joint venture with CROSCO, Integrated Drilling and Well Services Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of INA-Industrija d.d. Zagreb. The joint venture owns and operates the PANON, a 300-foot jackup rig. Noble owns 50% of the joint venture.
• Noble acquires 100% interest in the Ilion. The Ilion is renamed the Noble Clyde Boudreaux.
• Noble is named to the S&P 500.

2001

• Acquired Maurer Engineering Incorporated, an engineering firm that has been involved in the energy industry since 1974.
• North Sea division receives a clean sweep in the safety Awards Program by the IADC, being recognized as having the best safety operations for semisubmersibles, platform operations and jackups.
• Noble purchased the remaining ownership interest in the Noble Julie Robertson.
• Maurer, in conjunction Compaq Computer Corporation, introduced the Drillers Toolkit for Pocket PC™, a hand-held computer which provides drilling engineers with critical drilling software and engineering calculations.
• The North Sea division achieved a milestone by obtaining the International Standards Organization environmental certification (ISO 14001) of all mobile offshore drilling units in the division.

2002

• Purchased two Pentagon designed semisubmersible drilling rigs, the Transocean 96 and Transocean 97. These units were renamed the Noble Lorris Bouzigard and the Noble Therald Martin.
• Purchased two bare decks hulls, the Bingo 9000 Rig 3 and Bingo 9000 Rig 4.
• Completed corporate restructuring. Noble Corporation (NYSE: NE), a Cayman Islands company, became the parent company of the Noble corporate group.
• Acquired Welldone Engineering Services GmbH and a related subsidiary, which developed a rotary steerable system known as WellDirector®.
• The Brazil and Mexico divisions completed International Safety Management (ISM) Certification.
• The Gulf of Mexico shorebase operation and drilling units achieved ISO 14001 certification.
• The Canada division achieved a joint ISO 14001 and ISO 9001:2000 certification. Noble is the first contractor to achieve certification under the new 2000 revision of ISO 9001.
• Acquired the Trident III, later renamed the Noble Roy Rhodes, and Dhabi II jackups and entered into option agreements to purchase two additional jackup units, the Trident XVIII and Trident XIX from a subsidiary of Schlumberger.
• Chief Executive Officer magazine recognized the company as the fourth best performer in the oil service sector in terms of shareholder return, spanning approximately 27 years.
• Institutional Investment Magazine surveyed portfolio managers and sellside equity analysts to choose the top performing chief executive officers in 26 different sectors. Noble Corporation was selected as the top company in the oil service sector.

2003

• Shell Safety Case Award for the Noble Jim Thompson
• Exercised option to purchase the Trident XVIII, later renamed the Noble Charlie Yester
• Exercised option to purchase the Trident XIX, later renamed the Noble Gene House
• Purchased options to buy Noble Cees van Diemen and Noble David Tinsley

2004

• The National Safety Council selected Noble Corporation as the first winner of the prestigious Robert W. Campbell Award for leadership and excellence in business, financial, and safety, health and environmental performance.
• Noble became the first offshore drilling contractor to join the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Leaders Program, a voluntary industry-government partnership.
• The U.S. Minerals Management Service presented 2004 District SAFE Awards for Excellence in the Gulf of Mexico to the Noble Paul Romano and Noble Drilling (U.S.) Inc. The awards commend operating companies that expend extra effort and conduct their operations safely.
• Noble won Marathon Oil Company’s 2004 Contractor HES Excellence Award
• The IADC North Sea Chapter presented Noble with first place safety honors in jackup and semisubmersible operations. The Noble Piet van Ede won the Merit Award for six years without an LTI.
• Purchased Noble Mark Burns
• Exercised options to buy the Noble Cees van Diemen and Noble David Tinsley
• Noble Homer Ferrington mobilized to Nigeria for a term contract with ExxonMobil Nigeria
• Received a commitment from Shell Exploration and Production for the upgrade of the Noble Clyde Boudreaux

2005

• The Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) selected Noble to be an index component. The DJSI tracks the performance of more than 300 companies in 24 countries that lead their industries in terms of corporate sustainability
• International Regulators Forum awarded Noble Corporation the 2005 Carolita Kallaur Award for Noble's leadership in development of the Northwest European Health, Safety and Environmental Case template

2006

• Shell Exploration and Production Company names the Noble George Sauvageau, a 250-foot jackup working in the North Sea, as rig of the year for 2006
• Noble named to America’s Safest Companies list by the publishers of Occupational Hazards magazine
• Noble named as member of the Dow Jones sustainability index for second consecutive year
• Noble Amos Runner sets deepwater conventional mooring record in the Gulf of Mexico
• Company relocates the Noble Therald Martin to Brazil, expanding its commitment to this important market
• Noble announced the receipt of a letter of award from Venture Production plc for a new F&G JU-2000E enhanced premium jackup drilling rig to be constructed in China Venture Production has informed the Company that it anticipates employing the rig in the North Sea

2007

• Noble Corporation Reports Record Earnings of $5.33 Per Share for 2006 On Revenues of $2.1 Billion
• Noble Corporation Announces Increased Authorization Under Share Repurchase Program
• Noble Signs Letter of Intent With Marathon for New Ultra-Deepwater Semisubmersible
• Noble Corporation Wins 2006 National Safety Award for Excellence
• Noble Corporation Names David W. Williams as Chief Operating Officer
• Noble Corporation Joins Russell 3000 Index
• Noble Corporation Announces Two-for-One Stock Split, 100 Percent Effective Cash Dividend Increase
• Noble Corporation Reports No Damage From Hurricane Dean
• Noble Corporation Takes Delivery of New High-Spec Jackup Noble Roger Lewis

2008

• Noble Corporation Names David W. Williams as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
• Noble Corporation Subsidiaries Reach Agreement to Sell Platform Drilling Business
• Noble Corporation Reports Record Earnings of $4.48 Per Share for 2007 on Revenues of $3.0 Billion
• Noble Corporation Adds $4.0 Billion in Prospective Revenue Backlog From Five Deepwater Rigs in Brazil
• Noble Corporation Wins 2007 National 'SAFE' Awards From Minerals Management Service for Second Consecutive Year
• Noble Corporation Announces Contract Extension on Ultra-deepwater Semisubmersible Noble Jim Day; Adds More Than $375 Million in Prospective Revenue Backlog
• Noble Corporation Announces Agreements to Construct Ultra-Deepwater Drillship
• Noble Corporation Board Approves Proposed Change in Place of Incorporation