S&P: Noble unchanged

Standard & Poor's noted that its ratings and outlook on Noble Corp. (A-/stable) will not be affected by the company's announcement that its wholly owned subsidiary, Noble Drilling Holding LLC, has signed contracts to build a $585 million Globetrotter-class drillship.

The contracts were signed with STX Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. and Huisman Equipment BV, the agency noted.

The new Globetrotter unit will be built in Dalian, China, by STX and completed in the Netherlands by Huisman; the unit is expected to be delivered in 2011, S&P said.

Even though Noble does not have a customer contract at present for the new unit, which causes some concern, the agency said it views Noble as having sufficient financial resources to fund the $585 million construction costs internally during the intermediate term.

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