Offshore Driller Noble Corp. Files for Bankruptcy

The Chapter 11 filing in Texas envisions eliminating all of the company’s borrowings — more than $3.4 billion — by swapping debt for equity, the company said in a statement. Bondholders have agreed to invest $200 million of new capital through second lien notes, and Noble has lined up a $675 million secured revolving credit facility.

Noble is one of the biggest owners of offshore rigs, and it failed to cope with a glut of floating drilling capacity that was a decade in the making, as exploration companies shifted focus to cheaper inland shale. The plunge in crude prices made any near-term recovery in offshore drilling even less probable.

Noble adds to the more than 200 oilpatch bankruptcies dating from 2015.

© 2020 Bloomberg L.P

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