CORPORATION MAGAZINE • SPRING 2011

Noble Drilling Services Inc.13135 South Dairy Ashford, Suite 800

Sugar Land, Texas 77478

www.noblecorp.com

Noble worldwide

Semisubmersibles Drillships Jackups Submersibles Platform FPSO

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 74 offshore drilling units (including nine drilling 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, West Africa and Asian Pacific. Noble also owns and operates a dynamically positioned floating production, storage, offloading vessel. Noble’s shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “NE”.

15YEARS Noble Johnnie Hoffman

14YEARS

Noble Ed HoltNoble Max Smith

Noble Lewis Dugger Noble Sam Noble

13YEARS Noble Ed Noble Noble Gene Rosser

12YEARS Noble John Sandifer

11YEARS

Noble Lester PettusNoble Percy JohnsNoble Tommy Craighead

Noble Carl NorbergNoble Bill Jennings Noble Ton van Langeveld

10YEARS Noble George McLeod Noble Roy Butler

9YEARS

Noble Lynda BosslerNoble Amos RunnerNoble Homer Ferrington Noble Julie Robertson

Noble George SauvageauNoble Ronald HoopeNoble Earl FredericksonNoble David TinsleyNoble Tom Jobe

8YEARS

Noble Joe AlfordNoble Lorris Bouzigard

Noble Dick FavorNoble Gene House

7YEARS Noble Lloyd Noble

6YEARS Noble Alan Hay Noble Charles Copeland

5YEARS

Noble Jimmy Puckett Noble Al WhiteNoble Clyde BoudreauxNoble Don Walker

Noble Byron WelliverNoble Charlie YesterNoble Jim ThompsonDhabi II

4YEARS

Noble Gus AndroesNoble Driller

Noble Danny Adkins Noble Roger Lewis

3YEARS

Noble Jim DayNoble Paul Romano

Noble Eddie PaulNoble Roy Rhodes

2YEARS

Noble MurvlenkoNoble Roger EasonNoble Leonard Jones

Hibernia M-71 M-72Noble Piet van EdeNoble Chuck SyringNoble Hans Deul

1YEAR

Noble Kenneth DelaneyNoble Harvey Duhaney

Noble Scott MarksNoble Seillean

Achieving operational precision requires that every team member give their all. Not only must everyone be headed in the same direction, they must be pulling for a common goal in unison. That’s part of the secret to Noble’s success in safety. Team members strive to create a safe and sustainable working environment aboard every rig and on every hitch. Noble salutes the crews of the rigs listed here for continuing to deliver outstanding safety results.

The Noble LINK is published by and for the employees of Noble Corporation and its subsidiaries

and for our clients and friends.

Editor: John BreedDesign: Scott McFarlane

Comments regarding the Noble LINKshould be directed to:

John Breed, Noble Drilling Services Inc.13135 South Dairy Ashford, Suite 800

Sugar Land, Texas 77478(281) 276-6100

orjbreed@noblecorp.com

Pulling Together

1

2 Chairman’s Letter

4 Noble and Industry News

6 Bully + Globetrotter = Gamechanger

8 Rigs New to the Fleet

12 Regulators Visit North Sea Rig

14 Employee Profiles

19 Noble Efforts and Recognition

20 Project Management3

24 Parting Shots

Contents

On the Cover:

The Noble Bully I drillship is owned by a 50-50 joint venture between Shell and Noble entered into in mid-summer 2010. The Noble Bully I packs a punch with as much thrust capability and engine power as larger drillships. At the same time, its compact design means it can also operate in water depths as little as 16 meters. The drillship also features extensively tested ice-class hulls upgradable to accommodate an eight-point mooring system, allowing safe and efficient seasonal Arctic operation. The drillships are currently being outfitted and completed at Keppel Shipyard in Singapore and are expected to enter service in 2011.

2

LetterChairman’sThe Future's not what it used to be...

The shiny black sphere sitting on the edge of Lee Ahlstrom’s desk caught my attention the other day. It’s one of those Magic 8-Ball® toys that kids (and apparently

investor relations professionals) have used to predict the future since the device was first introduced back in 1946.

There is a multi-sided die inside the ball with 20 “predictions” printed on it in raised letters which can be read through a transparent window on the bottom of the ball. After “asking the ball” a yes-or-no question, the user then turns the ball so that the window faces up. Before your eyes appears the Magic 8-Ball’s prediction.

Wouldn’t it be nice if such a tool could really predict the future? Think of the clarity it could bring to our lives.

But then again, if the future could be predicted with precision, all emotion, the concept of risk and reward and the opportunity to create value would be replaced by a mundane world of perpetual evenness, where everyone ties, and no one ever wins or loses. There's not even a reason to keep score! As for me, I prefer the way things work now.

The reality is that success is never certain and the future is always shrouded in the fog of the present. Since we can’t predict the future our best bet is to attempt to shape it by the actions we take today. We need to try to manage the downside risk and create upside potential. Our recent addition of seven units and the people who crew them from Frontier, along with our newly created relationship with Shell, are great examples of shaping the future. It’s also one that I believe has a great chance of succeeding.

A look at our updated fleet map tells part of the story. With the addition of Frontier, we now operate in every major drilling theater world wide. We previously looked at Southeast Asia as a market of opportunity, a place that we would like to be. Noble didn’t have a lot of history there. But with the Frontier acquisition, we now have two rigs operating in that region and a significant platform for additional growth.

The acquisition of Frontier represents the kind of deal that we’ve been looking for to add value to the Company. We think it provides significant upside for us, long-term stability and a solid return for the shareholders over time.

While the addition of the Frontier units was important in its own right, the agreements we reached with Shell as part of the transaction in effect doubled

3

The Future's not what it used to be...

David W. WilliamsChairman, President and Chief Executive Officer

our contract backlog at the time of the announce-ment. Today, we’re sitting on over $13 billion of esti-mated backlog.

More than half of our backlog is with Shell. The amount of work that they have committed to us and the faith that they have placed in us is unprecedented. We’re very much looking forward to building on that relationship and having a great strategic alliance with Shell.

In a highly cyclical business and in times of regula-tory and financial uncertainty, it’s comforting to know that we have a significant contract backlog and that it is either with super-majors or national oil compa-nies. This is not an accident, but rather a part of our strategy to seek out companies that are equipped to maintain their level of activity through cycles. The backlog is also the fuel that drives the engine of continuing growth. The strength of our backlog provides the dry powder in the form of investment capital we need to keep building the Company and moving toward technology. Today we have eight rigs under construction around the world. We are creating upside potential for our future.

But fleet growth is only one element of our future. Delivering and maintaining operational integrity is the other, and that part is all about the people. 2010 was our second-best year in safety performance ever, but we still had too many people hurt. Today we are continuing to build on what we have achieved over the last three years—our best consecutive string—by far. We are evaluating high potential incidents more deeply, examining injury severity more critically and working process safety more diligently to mitigate risk.

In closing, here’s one prediction I feel certain to come true—no Magic 8-Ball needed. Safety is, and will always be, the key element of how we run the company. It’s built into the heritage and the culture of the Company from top to bottom. It goes back to the days of Lloyd Noble and how he ran the company. Our goal always will be to see that no one gets hurt. It’s built into the fabric of the Company, and it’s a mainstay of how we run this business.

With our ever-improving fleet, our top-notch teams, outstanding customers and can-do attitude, I look forward to 2011 being a year where Noble continues to set the pace in safety and operational excellence. It's not magic it's just good hard work, the Noble way!

4

While the ban on new well drilling in the U. S. Gulf of Mexico has technically been lifted, the timetable for returning to work remains unclear. Along with

lifting the ban, the Department of the Interior (DOI) recently announced two new rules that toughen requirements for equipment, well control systems and blowout prevention practices on offshore oil and gas operations.

The Drilling Safety Rule makes mandatory several requirements for the drilling process that were laid out in Secretary Salazar’s May 27th Safety Report to President Obama. According to the DOI, the regula-tion prescribes proper cementing and casing practices and the appropriate use of drilling fluids in order to maintain well bore integrity, the first line of defense

against a blowout. The regulation also strengthens oversight of mechanisms designed

to shut off the flow of oil and gas, primarily the blowout preventer and its components, including remotely operated vehicles, shear rams and pipe rams. Operators must also secure independent and expert reviews of their well design, construction and flow intervention mechanisms.

The second regulation—the Workplace Safety Rule—requires offshore operators to have clear programs in place to identify potential hazards when they drill, clear protocol for addressing those hazards and strong procedures and risk-reduction strategies for all phases of activity. The rule makes mandatory American Petroleum Institute (API) Recommended Practice 75, a standard followed by Noble and its customers.

“Noble continues to make progress toward full compliance with the recently released regula-tory changes, and we look forward to clearing the remainder of these hurdles and returning to work in the near term,” said David W. Williams, Noble’s Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, during the Company’s recent earnings confer-ence call.

“Safety remains our top priority and we already meet or exceed many of the workplace safety require-ments,” he added. “But despite the efforts by Noble and our customers, the reality is that an unpredict-able regulatory environment and extended delays in the permit approval process will discourage investment in new projects, hamper job creation and restrict energy production. There has to be a clear, practical and certain process for project review that will protect the environment and allow for explora-tion and production to resume in the Gulf of Mexico.”

Offshore Industry Addressing New Regulations in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico Pace of new permits remains far below level needed to sustain operations

The crew of the Noble Danny Adkins hosted U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar (left) and BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich (center) who visited the rig to better understand deepwater operations in the Gulf of Mexico.

in the IndustryNews

5

There are meetings, and then there are MEETINGS. Noble’s 2010 Worldwide Rig Managers’ Meeting, held in two sessions in Houston during September and

October, was definitely a meeting with a capital “M.” With its “One Noble” theme, the message was clear, we have many customers, a diverse employee base and a broad geographic footprint, but the Company has a single and overriding vision built on safety and operational excellence.

Over 500 attendees, representing every rig in the fleet, attended the meetings, providing an unparal-leled opportunity for benchmarking and exchange of best practices–a common thread across all of the individual presentations and the break out sessions that followed.

“The oilfield is changing,” noted David W. Williams, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, in his opening remarks. “We are positioning Noble to be ahead of that change.”

That sentiment was echoed by Julie J. Robertson, Noble’s Executive Vice President and Corporate Secretary, who said, “The Noble success story now extends back for nearly a century. Across the decades, equipment has changed, customers and areas of oper-ations have changed and the economy has ranged from vibrant to challenging. While looking back at how Noble started and how we got to where we are today, it is important to remember that no matter how long you have been part of this great organization, the Noble legacy is built one day at a time. Everyone will play a part in determining how the work we are doing today is remembered in the future.”

Operating precision and interdependent opera-tions are the foundation of the One Noble concept. As explained by Don Jacobsen, Senior Vice Presi-dent–Operations, “Operating precision is built on

safe actions, efficient operations, and high uptime, making few mistakes and satisfying our clients—the operators we work for.”

Don stressed that every rig manager has a role in Operating precision including:

• Being a leader; develop and motivate your team • Setting clear HSE expectations and model the

behaviors you want to see • Defining priorities and limiting distractions • Being consistent in communicating objectives • Measuring what you want to improve • Learning from others and communicate lessons

learned • Utilizing company support services • Listening carefully to our clients

The format and structure of the meeting was designed to be interactive. Rig and shore-base leadership and corporate group managers worked together in a series of small breakout discussion sessions designed to identify solutions for the challenges ahead. Breakout session topics included Finance and Markets, Safety, Inventory Management, HR and Leadership, Learning and Development, and Asset Preservation. “This is the first time Noble has used this format and the feedback from attendees has been overwhelmingly positive," said Bob Newhouse, Director, Learning and Development.

Face to Face Rig Manager Meeting Focuses on:

6

Bully + Globetrotter = GamechangerT

he move to explore and drill for oil over open water began over a century ago. While much has changed since 1896 when companies drilled in ocean waters

from piers extending off the beach at Summerland, California, offshore rigs continue to rely on a “derrick” that looks and works pretty much the way they did all those years ago. Modern derricks and machinery have improved to be sure, but innovations have been limited to updating the original tower design. All of that is about to change.

The Noble Bully I and II drillships, due for delivery in 2011, are 25 percent shorter and 60 percent lighter than comparable capacity drillships. Along with the Noble Globetrotter drillships, the Bullies share an innovative, new, compact, box-type drilling tower, called the Multi Purpose Tower (MPT) versus the conventional lattice structure derricks found on most offshore drilling units. Its size allows it to be fitted on to a much smaller vessel.

7

Bully + Globetrotter = GamechangerThe MPT consists of one main hoist and one

secondary hoist together on one tower. The advan-tage of this is that the main hoist can perform the primary drilling functions while the secondary hoist is used for pipe handling and other offline activities. The 2400kips drill tower is fitted with active heave compensated drawworks, mounted inside the tower. The addition of passive drillstring compensation to the active heave compensated drawworks provides inherent safety and redundancy.

8

Noble Driller

The Noble Driller, a semisubmersible capable of working in water depths up to 1,500 meters, underwent a major upgrade and modernization in 2009. The scope of work encompassed renovating and outfitting the Driller with updated drilling and marine equipment to render the rig capable of drilling deeper wells. Other enhancements included construction of a new derrick, a new BOP handling structure, new riser decks and a new ROV deck.

To meet the customer’s requirements, all pipe systems were renewed, modified or completely replaced and tested, and the complete the rig’s HVAC systems were upgraded. The rig’s electrical system was completely re-powered, including all four mains all new SCR and MCC and switch-boards and new cable. The final phase of the project consisted of fabricating and installing one thousand tons of steel, adding two pontoon sponsons and four columns to the unit, which is currently under contract to Shell.

new to the FleetRigs

9

Noble Duchess

The 475 foot long Noble Duchess drillship has most recently been working off West Africa. Conventionally moored, the Duchess has been used to drill in areas beyond the reach of the region’s jackup fleet.

new to the FleetRigs

Noble Phoenix Rises

The Noble Phoenix, measuring 137 meters, casts an impressive shadow, as the drillship exited the shipyard in 2008. Extensively upgraded and refurbished, the unit can drill in up to 1,500 meter water depth and with a conventional sub-sea Blow out Preventer (BOP), and in up to 2,700 meters of water utilizing a surface BOP.

Additional upgrades done in recent years to the Phoenix included the refurbishment of the existing hull and marine systems, installation of sponson tanks and the complete refurbish-ment of the accommodation for 120 crew member. Operational and drilling performance was enhanced with the installation of all new deck machinery, drilling equipment with associated systems.

12

HIGH-SPEC

13

Noble has contracted with a subsidary of Sembcorp Marine to build two high-specification, heavy duty, harsh environment jackups at the Jurong shipyard in Singapore. First delivery is anticipated during the fourth quarter of 2012, with the second delivery planned for the second quarter of 2013. The price for each rig is $220 million. The shipyard contract contains options for up to four more units. The rigs will be Friede & Goldman JU3000N designs capable of working in 400 feet of water with drilling capability of 30,000 feet.

High-specification jackups are in demand for offshore operations in markets as diverse as the North Sea, Mexico, Argentina, the Middle East and Vietnam. Just as important as harsh environ-ment qualification is deeper drilling capability where 15,000 psi blowout preventers speci-fied by many operators. The two new-build rigs will take Noble's high-specification rig fleet to five, and if all of the options are taken, Noble would have nine high-specification jackup rigs.

Currently, the high-specification rig market is one of the strongest jackup markets, as rigs that can drill some of the world's most demanding wells are in rela-tively short supply. High-specification jackups offer unique capabilities over conventional jackups, such as longer leg lengths, higher hook-load capacities, and additional mud pump horsepower.

The additional features let the more powerful rigs drill in deeper waters, carry more casing on the drill string, and drill faster than lower spec rigs. In a jackup environment where the overall fleet utilization is around 75 percent, fleet utilization for the world's 29 high-specification jackups is currently above 90 percent and is expected to remain high in the coming years as demand increases.

Noble Jackup Additions Raise the Bar

14

Officials from the NOGEPA (Nederlandse Olie en Gas Exploratie en Productie Associatie), the State Supervision of Mines and a handful of reporters

traded business suits for immersion suits and life jackets recently in preparation for a flight to the Noble Piet van Ede.

Even in June, the waters of the North Sea are a chilly 17°C (63°F)degrees. The odds that the suits will be pressed into service are small, but they illustrate just one of the many safety advances pioneered by North Sea operators and drillers since operations commenced there in the 1960s. Highlighting those advances was the goal of the tour, organized in coop-eration with Noble’s customer GDF SUEZ.

North Sea oil and gas operations contribute greatly to the success of economies across Europe, but can lack the visibility of other industries such as automo-tive or high tech. Media interest in North Sea drilling tends to peak only when there is an accident or other negative event, which on the whole is rare.

“One of the issues we face is in communicating about the progress we’ve made,” says Eelke Strikw-erda, Noble’s vice president and division manager, European Operations. “Often the reality of how we operate is much different than the percep-tions held by the general public and the media. We recognize that we need to do more to provide the information needed for the general public to understand us better.”

Noble’s European operations took an important step in that direction in providing the press and agency officials a chance to see drilling operations first hand. GDF SUEZ suggested the visit; fully aware Noble Piet van Ede crewmembers are regarded as some of the best and often lead the industry in safety. In fact, the Noble Piet van Ede, which has received several merit awards from the International Association of Drilling Contractors in recent years, was presented with an outstanding achievement award in 2008 for working 10 years without a lost-time incident.

North Sea Regulators See Safety In Action Aboard the Noble Piet van Ede

15

Upon arrival the group was welcomed by Drilling Superintendent Gerrit Schurink who has been with Noble since 1985. After the safety briefing required of all visitors, Gerrit provided tour participants with an overview of the Dutch offshore sector, noting that there were over 1200 wells in the area. As a result, much is known about the geology of the region, a factor that helps guide and improve well design and drilling effectively. Familiarity with the subsurface does not, however encourage complacency Gerrit noted in response to a question from the press.

“That’s simply not the case,” Gerrit said. “Noble drilling personnel are keenly attentive in reporting suspected unsafe conditions (in practice a rare event) and attentive to opportunities for possible improve-ments in operations. That’s how we stay safe and how we approach each new day.”

After the presentation the journalists made a tour of the rig to see the real details for themselves. Numerous questions were asked and answered, oftentimes by showing the drilling equipment, mud systems and blowout preventer at work.

Back onshore, Inspector General of Mines Jan de Jong described his organization and highlighted the strategy of State Supervision of Mines (SodM) in ensuring that Dutch oil and gas operations are conducted in a safe manner. SodM directs most of its attention to areas of high risk and extensive conse-quences, conducting numerous inspection projects every year. Findings are communicated to the indi-vidual companies themselves and the committees and working groups within NOGEPA. Lessons learned are picked up by the industry and effectively spread to where they are needed—achieving continuous improvement.

Natural resource legislation and regulations in the Netherlands can be traced back to 1810 when the State Supervision of Mines was established, making it one of the region's oldest government agencies. With the support of the offshore industry, minerals extraction in the Netherlands is among the safest in the world.

Making the Case for Safety

There has been a continuous focus on enhancing safety standards in the North Sea since the Piper Alpha disaster in July 1988. Following the Piper Alpha incident, industry participants, trade associations, government agencies and individual companies were involved in intense debates regarding the mechanisms for preventing any similar event from taking place in the future. An inquiry in the UK carried out by Lord Cullen spent two years examining the contributory factors to the incident in detail and its 106 recommenda-tions were accepted by the industry.

Among those changes was a move to a new goal-setting regime of industry regula-tion known as “Safety Cases.” The safety case regime brought to the offshore industry the philosophy of self-regulation which had been practiced onshore for many years. In the case of mobile installations including MODUs, the design of which is largely regulated through the International Maritime Organization's MODU Code, a safety case requirement applies before the commencement of operations; as with all installations, the safety case must cover the full range of operations being under-taken and their associated risks.

After the UK introduction of Safety cases (HSE cases), initially each country in the North Sea created its own format. In 2000, Noble’s European division pioneered one document format which was accepted by all North Sea governmental authorities. In recognition for this effort, Noble received the Carolita Kallaur Award from the International Regulators Forum. This initiative was then adopted by the IADC and that template has become the gener-ally accepted world standard.

16

Different Continents, Different Customers,

One Noble

TThe seas that swirl around the deserts of the Middle East have little in common with the Atlantic waters off Brazil some 7,000 miles away. But there is a unifying factor

that brings the two together—Noble’s steadfast commitment to the safety of our crews and all those who work aboard the Company’s offshore units. While the working environments are vastly different, Noble’s approach toward safety is the same. Mike McClure, who has worked for Noble for more than 14 years, sees really value and real results from the “personalization” of safety.

“On our rigs,” says Mike, “it’s not unusual for there to be 14 or more different primary languages. Taking the personal approach to safety dissolves those cultural and language barriers to communica-

tions. What we are seeing is that the notion of having a mental image of why it is important to stay safe is something that’s universal.”

“I grew up in Louisiana, so my frame of reference is different from someone from Croatia,” says Mike, “but the idea of family, friends, community—the really important things in life—aren’t really that different. By building on these common threads, we are able to work safer ever day and help ensure we all return home injury and incident free.”

17

Different Continents, Different Customers,

One Noble The summer sun lacks a little of its sting in offshore Brazil, one the world’s most vibrant drilling markets. Hardly a day goes by that the word “pre-salt” doesn’t dominate

the headlines. As the Wall Street Journal recently noted, “Petroleo Brasileiro SA, known as Petrobras, last month began production in one of the largest oil fields discovered in the Western Hemisphere in 30 years. A recently discovered field nearby could contain the equivalent of 15 billion barrels of oil, say Brazilian regulators, equal to almost two-thirds of the total proven deposits of crude in the U.S.”

Employing tens of thousands, exploration and production activities offer an exciting and rewarding career—as in the case of Annejifke “Jip” Andrew, who helps lead the HSE program at Noble do Brasil.

A graduate from Delft University with a back-ground in petroleum engineering, Jip came to Brazil with her husband who was transferred to the country by his oil service company employer. She already knew the industry having worked offshore in Aberdeen as a wireline engineer for five years and spent a couple of years on land rigs in Australia, Holland and Kazakhstan.

As with many venues around the world, drillers working in Brasil must ensure they are in compliance with a variety of local and international standards including ISO, OSHAS, ISM, ISPS, and similar require-ments for the client, regulators and governmental institutions—but compliance is just a part of what Jip and her coworkers must tackle in a day.

“We have about 10 different regulatory bodies that all ask how Noble do Brasil complies with their rules,” says Jip. “To prove that we are complying, we have to provide documentation and perform audits.

“These programs are essential and we comply fully,” says Jip, “but we are also implementing Noble’s

Worldwide HSE Plan and its personal approach to safety. One of the ways we are doing this is with our Hat Off program. It’s a simple idea that is proving very powerful. We ask our crew members to carry around a small laminated card of a person or thing they care about inside their hardhats. Each time they remove the hardhat during breaks, they are reminded of the reason they stay safe. No policy or procedure could have that sort of impact on an individual. The literally ‘see” the best reason to be safe dozens of times a day.”

Achieving her goals means communicating with both internal and external audiences says Jip. “While most of my interactions are internally focused as communications between the operations department and HSE, we also help maintain and grow the relation-ship with Petrobras and our other customers. That’s an area I am working to improve on daily and I always feel supported by Noble to do all I can to extend our culture of safety.”

18

Over one billion people worldwide suffer from neurological diseases—yet neurological diseases receive far fewer research dollars than either heart disease or cancer. Today, one out of every 1,000 children has a language disorder, and more children in the United States are diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder than diabetes and cancer.

Noble took steps recently to speed up the quest for treatment and prevention of these disorders with a substantial grant to the Jan and Dan Duncan Neuro-logical Research Institute (NRI) at Texas Children’s Hospital. Noble’s support will be used to help attract some of the finest scientific minds from around the world to solve some of the most complicated puzzles behind pediatric neurological disorders. The NRI at Texas Children’s Hospital is dedicated to uncovering the causes of pediatric neurological disorders such as Rett syndrome, epilepsy, cerebral palsy and autism —the vital first step before new treatments can be developed.

New discoveries in recent years are shedding light on how adaptable the nervous system is, how

it can be modified by manipulating the pathways through which molecules affect it, explained Huda Zoghbi, M.D., director of the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children's Hospital and professor in the departments of Pediatrics, Neurology, Neuroscience and Molecular and Human Genetics at Baylor College of Medicine.

“We’ve learned that brain cells are highly adaptable or ‘plastic’-behavior and environment can alter even basic cellular processes. This suggests there are avenues for intervention we would not have dreamed possible a few years ago,” said Zoghbi, also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator.

Zoghbi and her research group were responsible for identifying the gene that causes Rett syndrome, an X chromosome-linked neurological disorder. She worked to create a similar mutation in mice, reproducing the major features of Rett. Her success is allowing her to test treatments in the animals in hope to find successful ones that can be tested by her colleagues at Texas Children’s through clinical trials in children with the disease.

While the institute will be uniquely focused on pediatric neurological diseases, the ramifications of its research will be far more widespread, explained Gary Clark, M.D., chief of the pediatric neurology and developmental neuroscience service at Texas Children’s Hospital.

“There’s going to be benefits for the adult popula-tion as well. Many of the same mechanisms that lead to neurodegenerative diseases in children also lead to or are the same mechanisms in neurodegenera-tive diseases in adults,” said Clark, also professor of Pediatrics-Neurology, Baylor College of Medicine.

Noble Supports World Class Pediatric Neurology Research

EffortsNoble

19

BrazilFred Bigger Drilling SuperintendentStephen Farley Assistant Rig ManagerBernard MacKenzie Assistant Rig ManagerRichard Manning Assistant Rig ManagerLee Reborse Operations Manager

EuropeMarcel Plazier Rig ManagerWijbren Terpstra Assistant Rig ManagerDerek Thompson Assistant Rig ManagerAbraham van Zelm Drilling Superintendent

MexicoKen Nettles Operations Manager

Middle East and IndiaPhillip Beaulieu Assistant Rig ManagerRufino Capaciot Rig Manager

SingaporeTommy Despain Materials ManagerAlan Grodecki Project Manager

United StatesDeborah Bordsong Supervisor - Quality Control & Vendor Master, Materials ManagementJennifer Buckholt Senior Payroll AnalystAmy Cate Benefits ManagerBenny Dove Rig ManagerRobert Eifler Marketing & Contracts EngineerBryan Fleming Senior Inventory Data SpecialistAudrey Gage Payroll AnalystTimothy Hayes Worldwide Crane SuperindententJoAnne Henderson Expeditor - LogisticsDennis Iselt Construction CoordinatorFrancisco Licon-Solis Senior Visa & Immigration SpecialistSunil Maitra Supervisor - Repair & ReturnDana Maxon Supervisor - Global Training & ITJanice Peterson Payroll ManagerChelsea Osborn Recruitment AssistantDave Petitjean Operations ManagerGarth Pulkkinen Operations ManagerRussell Scribner Subsea Team LeaderHeath Shelite Materials SpecialistBrenda Teachman SAP Mainenance Field Auditor David Tennison Senior BuyerHillary Verner Benefits AnalystTamorha Watson Buyer

West AfricaRyan Terry Assistant Rig ManagerMax Wilks Rig Manager

Promotions and AdvancementMay 2010 – December 2010

The pain of losing his wife Kimberly to cancer was still very near the surface when Jeff Bailey, Rig Manager on the Noble Sam Noble, contacted the LINK recently. She had been diagnosed with a very rare cancer in January and fought a very courageous battle with the disease.

“She was the light of my life, I was very proud of how she handled and faced this terrible situation and I miss her terribly,” says Jeff. As Jeff recalled the memories of the recent months he quickly returned to the reason for his call—he was seeking a way to say thank you to the many members of his “Noble” family for their prayers, thoughts, support and help during this terrible time.

“It is always said that companies do not practice what they preach when they say they value their employees,” says Jeff. “But that isn’t the case here. From the crews on the Noble Sam Noble who were there for us when we needed them in the United States to the PEMEX-employed Mexican nation-als who work beside us who shaved their heads in support of my wife, I never felt alone.”

“My relief and the other Mexico division’s rig man-agers took time away from their families so I could help take care of Kim. I also had the support and encouragement of the division office from our VP/Division manager who took a personal interest and talked with me about our tragedy and other expres-sions of concern from across the organization.”

Jeff adds, “I am sure Kim would want me to thank them all, but there’s just so many who stepped forward. I want to thank them and ask them to never stop looking after each other as though we were family. As I have seen, it’s the Noble thing to do.”

The Noble FamilyAn expression of gratitude

RecognitionNoble

20

Project Management3

Noble answers to the challenge of coordinating three significant projects on three separate rigs all at once.

21

In recent years, new build rigs have captured most of the headlines, but the simple truth is that once those rigs go to work the necessity to keep them maintained and competitive begins.

Coordinating even a single upgrade or repair is an exercise in project management on a grand scale. Coordinating three significant projects at once on three separate rigs raises the challenge to a whole new level. That’s just the sort of challenge Noble successfully faced in bringing three of the Company’s jackups into the shipyard at once in the Middle East.

“In our case,” says Charlie Yester, Noble’s division manager for the Middle East and India operations, “we had work waiting for two of the units—so any delays would directly impact our customers and our earning potential. At the same time, having the rigs in the yard is crucial to keeping them competitive and in preventing unplanned downtime.”

The Noble Kenneth Delaney, a F&G L780 Mod II model rig, has been actively working in the Middle East since purchased in 1998. In preparation for its next contract in India the unit received several modifications and upgrades before mobilizing in September 2010.

The scope of work included installation of burner booms, cement unit and manifolds, centrifuge deck and conductor deck, flow meters, mud guns and piping, new rotary beams, new shale shakers, BOP lifting frame and miscellaneous other enhancements. New deck and work platforms were engineered to increase the rig’s deck space and a Mud Watch Rig Sense system was also installed throughout.

Shipyard visits provide an excellent opportunity to complete required surveys and in this case all three rigs underwent their ABS Underwater Survey (UWILD) and Intermediate MODU Surveys. On the Delaney surveys were completed concurrently for ISPS Security Plan and Survey and the required IRS (Indian Registry of Shipping) Survey was completed.

The shipyard time was also used to do needed maintenance – several of the rig’s jacking gearbox pinion assemblies were removed overhauled and re-installed, zero pollution piping modifications were installed under drill floor and a five-year top drive inspection and overhaul was completed and commissioned.

Each of the three projects had different goals and degrees of difficulty. Work on the Noble Roger Lewis, for example involved the installation of a 50 meter leg extension, which was not required during the rig’s initial contract in Qatar. Increasing the rig’s

When the author Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. first penned the line, “Everybody wants to build and nobody wants

to do maintenance…” clearly he hadn’t met the members of Noble’s engineering and maintenance team. If he had, he would have known better.

The Noble Kenneth Delaney on location in the Arabian Gulf.

operating depth would require safely lifting the three prefabricated 380 ton sections to a height of some 105 meters and then precisely lowering them to the top of the existing legs.

Few cranes in use today can execute such a lift. An exception to that rule is the Al Jaber Terex Demag CC8800-1 Twin, the world’s largest crawler crane and the only one capable of lifting these leg sections up and onto the existing legs. Having arrived by sea from its debut job in Singapore, the 3,200 ton crane could only be assembled after special ground preparation had been completed at the lift location.

Making the job even more complex was the six day window allowed to complete the lifting portion of the project. This window also included the time taken to jack the rig down into the water, turn the rig, jack up and preload.

The first lift took place on 7 June 2010, and the final lift was completed ahead of the planned schedule, thanks to ultra-tight coordination between Noble’s team, the Al Jaber crane team and the Lamprell shipyard production team.

The Noble Roger Lewis is now undergoing further enhancements in the shipyard in preparation for its upcoming contract in Saudi Arabia. These include the following modifications: upgrade of derrick, crown and travelling equipment to 2,000,000 lbs capacity and installation of a top drive side tracker; substan-tial modifications to mud system including 2,300 barrels of additional mud storage, mud pit dump lines, mud pit mixing header, new trip tanks, new mud-gas separator and installation of a 400 barrel mud batch mixer; modifications to choke and kill lines and choke manifold; drilling software upgrades; installation of kingpost mounted flare booms and associated piping systems on port and starboard sides of the rig; new BOPs and numerous modifications and enhance-ments to the fire fighting and safety systems.

When the rig exited the shipyard in February 2011 the Noble Roger Lewis stood 167 meters tall and ready for service in water depths of 122 meters.

Much of what the maintenance group does is planned—but sometimes projects choose their own timing. That was the case when the Noble David Tinsley suffered leg damage cause by a punch through of sea floor during pre-load operations in May 2009. In this instance, the rig’s legs were damaged beyond repair and had to be sheared off before the unit was moved to the shipyard for repairs. This meant that the first order of business was the recovery of leg sections which weighed from 345 to 430 metric tons. This operation was completed in September 2009.

Along with the legs, the spud cans were recov-ered, repaired and were reused. As is common with jackup unit construction, the leg fabrication drives the schedule. The legs for the Tinsley required material from Europe, rack and chord corner post fabrications in the U.S. and assembly and installation in Middle East.

22The world's largest crawler crane lifts a leg section.

23

While work on the legs proceeded, Noble’s team utilized the opportunity for additional improvements such as installing a new National DNS-60 crane with a 120 foot boom on the port side of the rig. A new NOV PS2-750A top drive was installed simultane-ously while completing the upgrades to the rig’s bilge, ballast and drill water pumps and piping. High pressure piping was installed enhancing the choke and kill system beneath the drill floor. Supplementary repairs included refurbishment of the rig’s lifeboats and raft davits together with clearing the calendar of future ABS regulatory compliances.

All work on the Tinsley was completed in September 2010 and the rig is currently preparing for its next contract. Most importantly this was all accomplished

safely in the heat of the summer without accident, incident or near miss throughout the entire project.

Notable contributors to the work on the Lewis, Delaney and Tinsley includes Project Managers, Chris Romero and Richard Gooder, Construction Manager, Lawrence Bradley and Project Supervisors Raju Mathews and David Verdine Jr. The safe and efficient completion of these projects could not have accomplished without the efforts of Robert McGrath, Dennis Iselt and Dennis McGrath, the Rig Crews and Rig Managers of each unit as well as the Qatar based Operations Managers and Drilling Superintendents, Houston based Engineers along with the Middle East Division Maintenance Supervisors Vincent Kond-ratski and Gary Mackintosh.

The Noble David Tinsley is ready to return to work.

24

With much the same determination seen in the early days of the space race, offshore drillers were almost routinely setting and then breaking all time water depth records back in 1999. In June of that year, the Noble Paul Wolff eclipsed the world water depth drilling record by 90 meters on the rig's inaugural well. The well, 1-RJS-538, was spud in 2,443 meters of water in the Campos Basin offshore Brazil under a contract to Petrobras. The Wolff then proceeded to break this record two more times by drilling in 2,603 meters in September and in 2,687 meters in November of that same year.

The Wolff was the second of Noble's EVA-4000™ submersible to semisubmersible conversions to enter service. Since that time, the rig has worked continu-ously offshore Brazil and is currently under contract until late 2014. Most recently, the Wolff was employed to drill a prospect known as “Libra” which is being drilled at a location where the water is approximately 1,825 meters deep.

Record-Setting Spud Was Just the Beginning for the Noble Paul Wolff

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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 74 offshore drilling units (including nine drilling 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, West Africa and Asian Pacific. Noble also owns and operates a dynamically positioned floating production, storage, offloading vessel. Noble’s shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “NE”.

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Achieving operational precision requires that every team member give their all. Not only must everyone be headed in the same direction, they must be pulling for a common goal in unison. That’s part of the secret to Noble’s success in safety. Team members strive to create a safe and sustainable working environment aboard every rig and on every hitch. Noble salutes the crews of the rigs listed here for continuing to deliver outstanding safety results.

The Noble LINK is published by and for the employees of Noble Corporation and its subsidiaries

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Pulling Together

CORPORATION MAGAZINE • SPRING 2011

Noble Drilling Services Inc.13135 South Dairy Ashford, Suite 800

Sugar Land, Texas 77478

www.noblecorp.com