NYSE: NE-WT

Contract Drilling Services

We report our contract drilling operations as a single reportable segment, Contract Drilling Services, which reflects how we manage our business. The mobile offshore drilling units comprising our offshore rig fleet operate in a global market for contract drilling services and are often redeployed to different regions due to changing demands of our customers, which consist primarily of large, integrated, independent, and government-owned or controlled oil and gas companies throughout the world.

We typically provide contract drilling services under an individual contract on a dayrate basis. Each contract’s final terms and conditions are the result of negotiations with our customers or other counterparties, and many contracts are awarded through a competitive bidding process. The following terms generally describe the key aspects of our contracts:

•contract duration extending over a specific period of time or a period necessary to drill a defined number of wells;

•payment of compensation to us (generally in US dollars, although some customers or other counterparties, typically national oil companies, require a part of the compensation to be paid in local currency) on a “daywork” basis, so that we receive a fixed amount (unless the contract contains a performance-based component) for each day (“dayrate”) that the drilling unit is operating under contract (a lower rate or no compensation is payable during periods of equipment breakdown and repair, adverse weather, or in the event operations are interrupted by other conditions, some of which may be beyond our control);

•provisions permitting early termination of the contract by the customer or other counterparties (i) if the unit is lost or destroyed, (ii) if operations are suspended for a specified period of time due to breakdown of equipment or breach of contract, or (iii) for convenience with the payment of contractually specified termination amounts;

•provisions allowing the impacted party to terminate the contract if specified “force majeure” events beyond the contracting parties’ control occur for a defined period of time;

•payment by us of the operating expenses of the drilling unit, including labor costs and the cost of incidental supplies;

•provisions that allow us to recover our mobilization and demobilization costs associated with moving a drilling unit from one regional location to another which, under certain market conditions, may not allow us to receive full reimbursement of such costs;

•provisions that allow us to recover certain cost increases from our customers in certain long-term contracts;

•provisions that require us to lower dayrates for documented cost decreases in certain long-term contracts; and

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•provisions that allocate responsibility and liability through indemnification provisions for risks related to personal injury, property damage or loss, environmental damages, damage to the reservoir, and other matters.

Under our drilling contracts, liability with respect to personnel and property is typically assigned on a “knock-for-knock” basis, which means that we and our customers or other counterparties assume liability for our respective personnel and property, generally irrespective of the fault or negligence of the party indemnified. In addition, our customers or other counterparties may indemnify us in certain instances for damage to our down-hole equipment and, in some cases, our subsea equipment. Also, we generally obtain a mutual waiver of consequential losses in our drilling contracts.

Our customers typically assume responsibility for and indemnify us from loss or liability resulting from pollution or contamination, including third-party damages and clean-up and removal, arising from operations under the contract and originating below the surface of the water. We are generally responsible for pollution originating above the surface of the water and emanating from our drilling units. Additionally, our customers typically indemnify us for liabilities incurred as a result of a blow-out or cratering of the well and underground reservoir loss or damage. In the current market, we are under increasing pressure to accept exceptions to the above-described allocations of risk and, as a result, take on more risk. In such cases where we agree, we generally limit the exposure with a monetary cap and other restrictions.

During periods of depressed market conditions, our customers or other counterparties may attempt to renegotiate or repudiate their contracts with us, although we seek to enforce our rights under our contracts. The renegotiation may include changes to key contract terms, such as pricing, termination, and risk allocation.

For a discussion of our backlog of commitments for contract drilling services, please read Part II, Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations— Contract Drilling Services Backlog.”

Drilling Fleet

Noble is a leading offshore drilling contractor for the oil and gas industry. Noble owns and operates one of the most modern, versatile, and technically advanced fleets of mobile offshore drilling units in the offshore drilling industry. Noble provides, through its subsidiaries, contract drilling services with a fleet of 31 offshore drilling units, consisting of 25 floaters and 6 jackups at the date of this report, focused largely on ultra-deepwater and ultra-harsh environment drilling opportunities in both established and emerging regions worldwide. Each type of drilling rig is described further below. Several factors determine the type of unit most suitable for a particular job, the most significant of which include the water depth and the environment of the intended drilling location, whether the drilling is being done over a platform or other structure, and the intended well depth. At December 31, 2025, our fleet was operating in Africa, Far East Asia, the North Sea, Oceania, South America, and the United States Gulf of America (the “US Gulf”). Our fleet consists of the following types of mobile offshore drilling units:

Floaters. A drillship is a type of floating drilling unit that is based on the ship-based hull of the vessel and equipped with modern drilling equipment that gives it the capability of easily transitioning from various worldwide locations and carrying high capacities of equipment while being able to drill ultra-deepwater oil and gas wells in up to 12,000 feet of water. Drillships can stay directly over the drilling location without anchors in open seas using a dynamic positioning system (“DPS”), which coordinates position references from satellite signals and acoustic seabed transponders with the drillship's six to eight thrusters to keep the ship directly over the well that is being drilled. Drillships are selected to drill oil and gas wells for programs that require a high level of simultaneous operations, where drilling loads are expected to be high, or where there are occurrences of high ocean currents, where the drillship's hull shape is the most efficient. Noble's fleet consists of 17 drillships capable of water depths from 10,000 feet to 12,000 feet.

Semisubmersible drilling units are designed as a floating drilling platform incorporating one or several pontoon hulls, which are submerged in the water to lower the center of gravity and make this type of drilling unit exceptionally stable in the open sea. Semisubmersible drilling units are generally categorized in terms of the water depth in which they are capable of operating, from the mid-water range of 300 feet to 4,000 feet, the deepwater range of 4,000 feet to 7,500 feet, to the ultra-deepwater range of 7,500 feet to 12,000 feet as well as by their generation, or date of construction. This type of drilling unit typically exhibits excellent stability characteristics, providing a stable platform for drilling even in rough seas. Semisubmersible drilling units hold their position over the drilling location using either an anchored mooring system or a DPS and may be self-propelled. Noble’s fleet consists of 8 moored ultra-deepwater semisubmersible drilling units.

Jackups. Jackup drilling units are designed to provide drilling solutions in depths ranging from less than 100 feet to as deep as 500 feet of water with drilling hook loads up to 2,500,000 pounds. Jackup rigs can be used in open water exploration locations, as well as over fixed, bottom-supported platforms. A jackup drilling unit is a towed mobile vessel consisting of a floating hull equipped with three or four legs, which are lowered to the seabed at the drilling location. The hull is then

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elevated out of the water by the jacking system using the legs to support the weight of the hull and drilling equipment against the seabed. Once the hull is elevated to the desired level, or “jacked up”, the drilling package can be extended out over an existing production platform or the open water location and drilling can commence. Noble’s fleet of 6 jackups consists of high-specification units capable of drilling in up to 500 feet of water.

The following table presents certain information concerning our offshore fleet at February 12, 2026. We own and operate all of the units included in the table. The table excludes certain rigs currently operating under a bareboat charter agreement.

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NameMake
Year

Built

Water Depth Rating

(feet) (1)
Drilling Depth Capacity (feet)Location
Status (2)

Floaters—25

Drillships—17

Noble Bob DouglasGustoMSC P10000201312,00040,000GuyanaActive

Noble Don TaylorGustoMSC P10000201312,00040,000GuyanaActive

Noble Faye KozackSamsung 96000201312,00040,000BrazilActive

Noble Gerry de SouzaSamsung 120000 Double Hull201112,00040,000NigeriaActive

Noble Globetrotter IGlobetrotter Class201110,00030,000BulgariaActive

Noble Globetrotter IIGlobetrotter Class201310,00030,000US GulfHeld for sale

Noble Sam CroftGustoMSC P10000201412,00040,000GuyanaActive

Noble Stanley LafosseSamsung 96000201412,00040,000US GulfActive

Noble Tom MaddenGustoMSC P10000201412,00040,000GuyanaActive

Noble ValiantSamsung 96000201412,00040,000SurinameActive

Noble VenturerSamsung 96000201412,00040,000GhanaActive

Noble VikingSamsung 96000201412,00040,000PhilippinesActive

Noble VoyagerSamsung 96000201512,00040,000US GulfActive

Noble BlackRhinoGusto P10000201412,00040,000US GulfActive

Noble BlackHawkGusto P10000201412,00040,000US GulfActive

Noble BlackHornetGusto P10000201412,00040,000US GulfActive

Noble BlackLionGusto P10000201512,00040,000US GulfActive

Semisubmersibles—8

Noble DelivererDSS21-DPS2201010,00040,000MalaysiaAvailable

Noble DeveloperDSS21-DPS2200910,00040,000SurinameActive

Noble DiscovererDSS21-DPS2200910,00040,000ColombiaActive

Noble PatriotBingo 300019831,50020,000UKActive

Ocean ApexEnhanced Victory1976/20146,00030,000AustraliaAvailable

Noble CourageF&G ExD Millennium200910,00040,000BrazilActive

Noble EndeavorEnhanced Victory1975/200610,00035,000South AmericaActive

Ocean GreatWhiteMoss CS-60E201610,00035,000NorwayActive

Independent Leg Cantilevered Jackups—6

Harsh environment—1

Noble ResolveMCS CJ50-X100 MC200935030,000SpainHeld for sale

Ultra-harsh environment—5

Noble InnovatorMCS CJ70-150MC200349230,000UKActive

Noble IntegratorMCS CJ70-X150 MD201549240,000NorwayActive

Noble InterceptorMCS CJ70-X150 MD201449240,000NorwayActive

Noble IntrepidMCS CJ70-X150 MD201449240,000UKActive

Noble InvincibleMCS CJ70-X150 MD201649240,000NorwayActive

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(1) Rated water depth for drillships and semisubmersibles reflects the maximum water depth for which a floating rig has been designed for drilling operations.

(2) Rigs listed as “active” are operating, preparing to operate, or under contract; rigs listed as “available” are actively seeking contracts and may include those that are idle or warm stacked.

Market

The offshore contract drilling industry is a highly competitive and cyclical business. Demand for offshore drilling services is driven by the offshore exploration and development programs of oil and gas operators, which in turn are influenced by many factors. Those factors include, but are not limited to, the price and price stability of oil and gas, the relative cost and carbon footprint of offshore resources within each operator’s broader energy portfolio, global macroeconomic conditions, world energy demand, the operator’s strategy toward renewable energy sources, environmental considerations, and governmental policies.

In the provision of offshore contract drilling services, success in securing contracts is primarily governed by price, a rig’s availability, drilling capabilities and technical specifications, and the drilling contractor’s safety performance record. Other factors include experience of the workforce, process efficiency, condition of equipment, operating integrity, reputation, industry standing, and client relations.

We maintain a global operational presence and compete in many of the major offshore oil and gas basins worldwide with a primary focus on the deepwater and ultra-deepwater floater market and ultra-harsh environment jackup market. All our drilling rigs are mobile, and we may reposition our drilling rigs among regions for a variety of reasons, including in response to customer requirements. We compete in both the floating and ultra-harsh jackup rig markets, each of which may have different supply and demand dynamics at a given period in time or in different regions.

We have one of the youngest and highest specification fleets of global scale in the industry, with diversification across geographic regions and customers. The Company has a track record of industry-leading utilization, coupled with a commitment to best-in-class safety performance and customer satisfaction. We strive to be a leader in industry innovation and first-mover in sustainability.

The offshore drilling industry has historically experienced significant volatility and change. In recent years, however, oil prices have generally remained at levels that are supportive of offshore exploration and development activity and global rig demand recovered to eclipse pre-pandemic levels, albeit with a steady downtrend since 2022 post-pandemic highs. Spot prices for Brent crude have recently settled in the mid to high $60s per barrel during early 2026 compared to an average price of $68 per barrel during 2025. Current demand and utilization levels are supported by the combination of the outlook for longer-term commodity prices, heightened focus on energy security, the capital intensity of depletion replacement, and relative attractiveness of offshore plays with respect to both cost and carbon emissions. The increase in global rig demand since 2021 has had a positive impact on dayrates for most rig classes, although dayrates have decreased moderately since recent highs during 2023 and 2024.

The global rig supply has come down from historic highs as Noble and other offshore drilling contractors have retired less capable and idle assets. Concurrently, the incoming supply of newbuild offshore drilling rigs has diminished materially, with very few newbuild rigs now remaining stranded in shipyards.

Although the market outlook in our business varies by geographical region and water depth and, despite recent downward pressure on the price of oil, we remain encouraged by the long-term outlook in the ultra-deepwater floater market. Our customers continue to focus on our highest specification floaters, which represents the majority of our floater fleet. Assuming current market fundamentals, continued customer prioritization towards these highest specification floaters could result in lower utilization for our lower specification drillships and our semi-submersibles. Demand for midwater semisubmersibles is primarily driven by brownfield activity in mature basins, especially in Northwest Europe, South America, and the Asia Pacific regions, where a generally stable level of baseload demand is supported by infield drilling and plug and abandonment requirements. Our ultra-harsh environment jackups operating in Norway and the UK experienced less cyclical improvement than the floater fleet during 2022-2024, but have recently begun to realize improving utilization.

While we remain encouraged about overall long-term rig demand, as evidenced by recent multi-year, multi-rig contracts that we have booked into backlog, the near-term outlook for both floaters and jackups over the next several quarters continues to present lingering utilization headwinds compared to 2023-2024 levels. Furthermore, economic uncertainty and lower commodity prices arising from recent trade policy and tariffs, compounded with OPEC’s stated intent to increase oil production, collectively present a potential for additional demand risk for offshore rigs in the near term.

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Across the broader offshore drilling market, recent contract awards and open tenders show an increasing proportion of multi-year contracts, although a significant number of shorter-term commitments continue to be fixed as well. Longer-term contracts can generally provide economic efficiencies by reducing the number of rig contract start-ups, both with different customers and among different regions, which is expected to reduce incremental resources and costs. On the other hand, certain multi-year contracts that are scheduled to commence a year or more into the future can present near-term utilization inefficiency due to challenges with filling interim availability on the assets.

The energy transition from hydrocarbons to renewables poses a challenge to the oil and gas sector and our market. Energy rebalancing trends sharply accelerated over the past decade as evidenced by promulgated or proposed government policies and commitments by many of our customers to further invest in sustainable energy sources, although this trend has moderated or even reversed in certain jurisdictions in more recent years with shifting political priorities. Our industry could be further challenged as resource holders and policy makers continue to evaluate and calibrate strategies and capital flows to address global energy needs. Ultimately, however, there continues to be a global dependence on products made from hydrocarbons and on the combustion of hydrocarbons to provide reliable and affordable energy. Low-cost and low-emission barrels are expected to be the most attractive conventional source to meet energy needs both currently and in the future. Global energy demand is predicted to increase over the coming decades, and we expect that offshore oil and gas will continue to play an important and lasting role in meeting this demand.

Significant Customers

During the three years ended December 31, 2025, we principally conducted our contract drilling operations in Africa, Far East Asia, the North Sea, Oceania, South America, and the US Gulf. The following table sets forth revenues from our customers as a percentage of our consolidated operating revenues:

Year EndedYear EndedYear Ended

December 31, 2025December 31, 2024December 31, 2023

Exxon Mobil Corporation (“ExxonMobil”)19.7 %22.1 %24.5 %

BP13.2 %(1)(1)

Petrobras12.5 %(1)(1)

TotalEnergies(1)(1)10.5 %

Shell plc(1)12.3 %13.6 %

(1) Amount was less than 10% for the year presented.

No other customer accounted for more than 10% of our consolidated operating revenues in 2025, 2024, or 2023.

Human Capital

At December 31, 2025, we had approximately 4,500 employees, excluding approximately 1,400 persons we engaged through labor contractors or agencies. Approximately 77% percent of our workforce is located offshore. Certain of our employees and contractors in international markets, such as Norway and Denmark, are represented by labor unions and work under collective bargaining or similar agreements, which are subject to periodic renegotiation, and we consider our employee relations to be satisfactory.

For additional information, please read Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business and Operations—Unionization efforts, labor interruptions, and labor regulations could have a material adverse effect on our operations.”

Safety and Environmental Stewardship. Noble is committed to operating with excellent health, safety, and environmental (“HSE”) performance as an integral part of our business strategy, adding value for employees, customers, and shareholders. All personnel, regardless of job or position onboard our vessels or at any Noble facility, has the authorization and obligation to immediately stop any unsafe act, practice, or job that poses an unaddressed or unreasonable risk to people or the environment.

Our pursuit of exceptional HSE performance begins with our strong corporate culture that prioritizes proactive risk management, compliance with standards, and continuous improvement. This commitment is reinforced through Noble Peak, our safety philosophy focused on building capacity for safe work, learning from everyday operations, and fostering resilience. Noble Peak emphasizes mindset, skillset, and toolset—empowering teams to adapt, communicate, and learn continually—because safety is not just the absence of incidents, but the presence of defenses and capabilities.

To strengthen how we think about risk, Noble is moving beyond traditional lagging indicators such as IADC TRIR and LTIR. These legacy metrics often focus on frequency rather than severity, which can obscure the true risk profile of our

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operations. Our Potential Consequence Severity Index (“PCSI”) addresses this gap by weighting events based on both actual and potential consequences. This approach helps ensure that serious hazards and high-risk exposures receive the attention they deserve—even when no injury occurs. PCSI is intended to drive proactive learning and prioritization, helping us focus on eliminating life-altering risks and building resilience rather than simply counting incidents.

Training and Continuing Education. We place considerable value on the training and development of our employees. Accordingly, we conduct formal and informal meetings with employees, regular executive-led podcasts, issue periodic publications of Company activities and other matters of interest to the Company’s OneNoble app, and offer a variety of training, including in-house through NobleAdvances, our state-of-the-art training facility in Texas. Noble has learned that technical skills are not enough to keep pace in our fast-changing offshore environments. NobleAdvances allows us to deliver scenario-based drilling and marine training with a strong focus on communication, biases, and emergency decision making. This approach is designed to enable Noble employees to execute our procedures effectively and solve complex technical problems in challenging offshore conditions.

Government Regulation

Our operations are subject to federal, state, and local laws and regulations in the U.S. and other jurisdictions where we operate, including those relating to drilling services, exploration, development, and production, and other activities in the oil and gas industry, international maritime standards, worker health and safety, taxation, import and export, corruption, sanctions, trade, labor and employment, data privacy and security, and environmental protection. Compliance with these laws has in the past and may continue to require significant expenditures and operating costs.

In particular, environmental laws and regulations regarding emissions (including greenhouse gases and methane), water discharges, wastewater and stormwater management, chemical handling and storage, hazardous and non-hazardous waste generation and disposal, endangered species and habitat protection, noise and dust, site remediation, and spill prevention and response require ongoing attention and resources to support compliance. Changes in standards or enforcement priorities can increase our cost of doing business and affect utilization and margins. Similarly, environmental non‑compliance incidents could expose us to investigations, administrative orders, civil or criminal penalties, natural resource damages, remediation and restoration obligations, and third‑party claims for property damage, personal injury, or business interruption, as well as strict, joint, and several liability, which can result in liability without regard to fault.

In addition, obtaining and maintaining environmental permits can be time‑consuming and costly, and permitting or regulatory challenges can delay, restrict, or halt our operations or those of our customers. More stringent regulations or heightened enforcement may require us to curtail activities in certain locations, suspend or relocate equipment, or incur incremental operating and capital costs, and may also adversely affect the demand for our services if our customers reduce or defer drilling activity to address their own compliance burdens.

There is also ongoing attention concerning the global climate. Various regulators have proposed or adopted rules requiring the monitoring and reporting of GHG emissions from specified sources in the United States and abroad, including, among other things, certain offshore activities relating to oil and gas production. Emerging climate-related policies and market expectations, including greenhouse gas reporting and reduction programs, carbon pricing mechanisms, restrictions on flaring and venting, electrification requirements, and supply chain emissions goals set by our customers, could increase our costs, require additional disclosures and internal controls, or necessitate investments in lower‑emissions technologies and alternative power solutions for our rigs and facilities. Collectively, these factors could adversely affect our revenues, profitability, and returns on invested capital. More information on these and related risks can be found in our discussion in Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” below.

Available Information

Our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act are available free of charge at our website as soon as reasonably practicable after such material is electronically filed with or furnished with the SEC. The SEC maintains an internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC at http://www.sec.gov.

Our website address is http://www.noblecorp.com. Investors should also note that we announce material financial information in SEC filings, press releases, and public conference calls. Based on guidance from the SEC, we may use the investor relations section of our website to communicate with our investors. It is possible that the financial and other information (including fleet status reports) posted there could be deemed to be material information. Noble may also use social media channels including, but not limited to, Noble's accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and X, to communicate with investors and the public about its business, services, and other matters, and those communications

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could be deemed to be material information. Documents and information on our website or our social media channels are not incorporated by reference herein.

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