Noble Corp. in January announced plans to move one of its deep-water drilling rigs out of the Gulf of Mexico amid a spill-related slowdown in activity. This week, the Swiss-based driller made good on its promise. It loaded the Noble Clyde Boudreaux, an ultra-deepwater semisubmersible, on a ship in Pascagoula, Miss., that will carry the rig 5,000 miles to Brazil, where it has a contract with Shell. That new contract, starting in April, will last for a year and is $290,000 per day less than the previous Gulf lease, Noble said. Noble, Diamond Offshore and other offshore drilling contractors have...
